FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

European Union: Legislative Competence

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which powers he is seeking to repatriate from the European Union.

David Lidington: As set out in the coalition agreement, the Government are committed to examining the balance of the EU's existing competences and working to limit the application of the working time directive in the United Kingdom.

Lockerbie: Bombings

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with (a) the First Minister of Scotland and (b) other Ministers in the Scottish Government on the possible return to the UK of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi since 1 February 2011.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had no contacts with the First Minister of Scotland or other Minister of the Scottish Executive on the possible return to the UK of Abdul Baset al-Megrahi since 1 February 2011. The decision to release Mr al-Megrahi was one for the Scottish Executive alone to take, as would be any decision to request his return.

Moussa Koussa

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whose authorisation was given for Moussa Koussa to leave the United Kingdom.

Alistair Burt: Moussa Koussa did not require authorisation to leave the UK. He was not in detention in the UK but was here as a private individual.

Moussa Koussa

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government made arrangements with the authorities in Qatar for Moussa Koussa to go to Doha.

Alistair Burt: No. Mr Koussa's entry into Doha was a matter for him and the Qatari authorities.

Moussa Koussa

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Moussa Koussa is expected to return to the United Kingdom.

Alistair Burt: All foreign nationals are subject to compliance with the immigration rules but we cannot discuss the details of an individual's case. Nor can we comment on Mr Moussa Koussa's possible future movements.

War Crimes

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on an independent commission of inquiry into war crimes in Somalia; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: We are not aware of any current UN proposal for an Independent Commission of Inquiry for Somalia.
	We believe it is right that international efforts at this time remain focused on the Djibouti Peace Process, and on ending the transition in August 2012, in order to secure longer-term stability in Somalia. In this context, we welcome the adoption in Mogadishu on 6 September of a roadmap for progress over the next year and are urging the Transitional Federal Institutions to keep to the commitments contained within that roadmap. Those commitments include the prevention of the presence of children in the armed forces and efforts to improve protection of civilians from all armed violence. The British Government are also exploring ways in which we can support the African Union Mission in Somalia to minimise the risk to civilians when they defend themselves from insurgent attack.

WALES

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of written questions tabled to her for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

David Jones: Between the dates of (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 the Wales Office received 48 written questions tabled for answer on a named day, of which two did not receive a substantive answer on the named day.
	Between the dates of (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011 the Wales Office received 12 written questions tabled for answer on a named day, all of which were answered on the named day.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments’ performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Discrimination

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she plans to take to raise awareness of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Lynne Featherstone: This Government are committed to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) people, both in the UK and internationally. It is clear that too many LGB&T people still face discrimination and the Government are committed to addressing this.
	That is why, in March 2011, the Government published “Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward”, which outlines evidence of discrimination and the targeted action that Government will take in a number of areas of public policy including education, workplaces, hate crime, sport and our international work.
	The Government will continue to engage with a range of employers, service providers, public sector bodies, voluntary and community sector groups and individuals to ensure that discrimination against LGB&T people is tackled at all levels.

Driving: Age Discrimination

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities whether she plans to grant the car rental industry an opt-out clause from the age discrimination provisions of the Equality Act 2010 similar to that provided to the financial services industry.

Lynne Featherstone: We are currently considering the issue and will announce our decision in the Government's published response to the recent age discrimination consultation in due course.

Driving: Age Discrimination

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what estimate she has made of the potential cost to the car rental industry of the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 relating to age discrimination.

Lynne Featherstone: My officials have discussed estimates with the car rental industry. Any costs would be dependent on the Government's decision which is under consideration and will be announced in our response to the recent consultation.

Equality

David Hamilton: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what proportion of respondents to the Equality Act 2010: The public sector Equality Duty: reducing bureaucracy consultation were in favour of the Government's revised draft regulations.

Lynne Featherstone: holding answer 7 July 2011
	There were 189 responses to the policy review. A summary of the responses received is included in the Explanatory Memorandum published alongside the draft specific duties regulations on 27 June 2011. The discursive nature of the responses means that giving exact proportions in favour or against is not possible. But in general terms:
	virtually all respondents supported the stated aims of reducing unnecessary processes and bureaucracy, and promoting greater transparency and accountability;
	there was also widespread agreement that the revised regulations would achieve the first of these aims;
	there was a more mixed response in regard to the latter aim. Around 40% of the public bodies supported the proposed approach, while around 80% of respondents overall raised concerns of one sort or another.
	The Government strongly believes the approach set out in the policy review is the right approach, and that the draft regulations strike the right balance between prescription and flexibility. This approach will help public bodies comply with the Equality Duty and understand what constitutes good practice through guidance, not regulation.
	But we have listened to the concerns raised and will review the operation of the regulations in two years time, to ensure they are delivering the transparency and accountability we expect.

WORK AND PENSIONS

ATOS Healthcare

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many face-to-face assessments scheduled by ATOS Healthcare have been (a) cancelled by ATOS and (b) missed by benefit applicants in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: Atos Healthcare arrange over 1 million medical appointments each year and appointments are only cancelled by Atos Healthcare when necessary to minimise any inconvenience or prolonged waiting time for the claimant. Atos Healthcare always aims to provide good notice to claimants of a cancellation.
	Atos Healthcare is also working with the DWP to improve the level of claimants who do not attend their appointments, and the figures indicate improvements have been seen recently.
	
		
			 Month Cancelled by Atos Claimant did not attend 
			 September 2010 15,550 22,350 
			 October 2010 14,850 22,600 
			 November 2010 18,350 24,400 
			 December 2010 16,350 22,250 
			 January 2011 15,900 24,650 
			 February 2011 16,550 21,700 
			 March 2011 16,250 21,300 
			 April 2011 11,700 14,950 
			 May 2011 11,550 17,000 
			 June 2011 17,800 17,650 
			 July 2011 21,400 16,350 
			 August 2011 16,900 12,550 
			 Source: Atos Healthcare—(these figures are rounded to the nearest 50)

Carer’s Allowance

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to amend the overlapping benefit rules which prevent simultaneous payment of carer’s allowance and retirement pension.

Steve Webb: We have no plans to do so.
	Carer's allowance has always been subject to the overlapping benefits rules which ensure that only one benefit at a time can be paid for the same purpose.
	Carer's allowance and state pension overlap because they both provide a replacement income. Carer's allowance provides a measure of financial support for people who forgo the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person. State pension replaces income in retirement.
	Although an entitlement to both benefits will mean that carer's allowance is not payable, or not payable in full, an underlying entitlement to carer's allowance gives access to the carer premium, currently £31, in housing benefit and council tax benefit and an additional amount at the same rate in pension credit.

Children: Maintenance

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has any plans to amend the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992 to enable the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to confirm a child's attendance with a school or college in order to verify the parent with carer’s entitlement to child benefit.

Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	Letter from Noel Shanahan, dated 8 September 2011
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has any plans to amend the Child Support (Information Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992 to enable the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to confirm a child's attendance with a school or college in order to verify the parent with care's entitlement to child benefit.
	The Child Support (Information Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992 were replaced by the Child Support Information Regulations 2008. The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (the Commission) has no plans to amend these regulations as mentioned in the question.
	Under child support legislation, children under the age of 16 are considered a child for child maintenance purposes regardless of their attendance at a school or college. However, for children between the ages of 16 and 19, the criterion used for deciding whether they are considered a qualifying child for child maintenance purposes is if child benefit is in payment for that child.
	Whilst matters relating to child maintenance are the responsibility of the Commission; matters relating to the entitlement and payment of child benefit are the responsibility of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
	The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) provided for a new child maintenance scheme. The Commission is developing plans for the new child maintenance scheme and the 2008 Act provides for the maximum age of a child under the new scheme to be 20 years of age, which will align with the maximum age for the payment of Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits. Detailed rules about the new scheme will be contained in regulations which will be subject to public consultation before the new scheme goes live. The consultation process will be publicly announced, although the date for this process to begin is still to be confirmed.
	Where a child benefit claim is cancelled with retrospective effect, then the Commission, upon notification, can close the case from the date that the child benefit claim ceased, and the Commission can then consider, refunding, the non-resident parent or reducing any arrears balance as appropriate. Additionally, if the non-resident parent believes that child benefit is not lawfully in payment, they should contact HMRC who may investigate this claim.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Cold Weather Payments

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria trigger the payment of cold weather payments; which vulnerable groups qualify for these payments; and whether the level of cold weather payments has increased since May 2010.

Steve Webb: Cold weather payments are made for each period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. A network of weather stations covering the whole of Great Britain gathers temperature information. A payment of £25 is made when the average temperature at the weather station linked to the claimant's postcode is, or is forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below over seven consecutive days.
	The qualifying benefits are: pension credit, income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance and income-related employment and support allowance. Those in receipt of income-related employment and support allowance in the assessment phase, income support, or income-based jobseeker's allowance must have a pensioner or disability premium, a child who is disabled, or a child under the age of five.
	The rate of cold weather payments was permanently increased to £25 per period of very cold weather from 1 November 2010.
	Further information on cold weather payments is available on the direct.gov website:
	http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018668
	Statistics for the number of payments by Met Office weather station for winter 2010-11 are available in the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions' Annual Report on the Social Fund available through the Department for Work and Pensions website:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/2011-annual-report-social-fund.pdf

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Chris Grayling: The number of written questions tabled to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for answer on a named day; (a) between 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 was 1,061 of which 41 (3.86%) did not receive a substantive answer on the named day, and (b) between 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011 was 360 of which 14 (3.89%) did not receive a substantive answer on the named day.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Employment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many of the households which have never included an adult in work he expects an adult to enter employment by 2015.

Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions does not produce labour market forecasts. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast a net increase of around 1 million in total employment between 2011 and 2015, but does not break down its forecasts by household type
	The latest estimate published by the Office for National Statistics is that in April-June 2011, among UK households including at least one person aged 16 to 64 years, 370,000 households (1.8% of the total) contained no-one who had ever worked. A household is defined as having never worked if all adult members are not currently in employment and state that they have never had paid work (apart from casual or holiday work, or a job they are waiting to begin).
	The number of households where no-one has ever worked illustrates part of the wider problems of workless households and long-term unemployment that the UK currently faces. The Government are committed to tackling these urgent problems. This is why we launched the Work programme this summer, which will give tailor made support to help people get off benefits and into work, and through universal credit we are overhauling the benefits system to ensure that people are always better off in work.
	We have also begun to reassess 1.6 million of the people who claim incapacity benefits to see if they are fit for work. Around 10,000 people a week are being asked to take part in a process that will focus on what they can do, not what they cannot. In return we will give them the specialist help they need to get back to work.

Incapacity Benefits: Yorkshire and Humberside

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Great Britain, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) York (i) applied for incapacity benefit, (ii) were required to attend a personal capability assessment, (iii) had their incapacity benefit refused following an assessment and (iv) had their incapacity benefit reinstated following a review or appeal in the latest 12-month period for which information is available.

Chris Grayling: Since October 2008, new claims to incapacity benefits have been made to employment and support allowance so the only flows to old-style incapacity benefits—incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA)—have been from linked claims. Information on flows to incapacity benefits and other benefits can be found on the Department's tabulation tool at the following link:
	http://83.244.183.180/flows/flows_on/tabtool.html
	For example, the following link shows flows onto old-style incapacity benefits for people of working age by region. This shows the number of flows in the year to February 2011 was 26,500 in Great Britain, of which 2,050 were in Yorkshire and the Humber.
	http://83.244.183.180/flows/flows_on/ibsda/cdquarter/ccgor/ccclient/a_carate_r_cdquarter_c_ccgor_p_ccclient_working _age.html
	The number of flows onto old-style incapacity benefits in York unitary authority is around 60. This is calculated from further breakdowns available using the tabulation tool.
	Information tracking people claiming old-style incapacity benefits and what happened to them at the personal capability assessment (PCA) is held only from October 2008 onwards. At this stage most assessments related to existing longer-term incapacity benefit claims and not new incapacity benefit claims, (i.e. repeat PCAs and not the initial PCA). We have therefore presented information relating to both initial and repeat PCAs combined.
	Table 1 shows information on the number and outcomes of PCAs carried out between March 2010 and February 2011 (the latest data available). Note that the information in Table 1 cannot be directly compared to data on new claims to IB as the data contain information on repeat PCAs which make up the vast majority of PCAs carried out in this time period.
	
		
			 Table 1: Personal capability assessments outcomes, March 2010 to February 2011 
			  PCA e  xempt Disallowed at PCA Pass PCA Total 
			 Great Britain 37,700 47,500 184,400 269,600 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,200 2,400 6,200 9,700 
			 York unitary authority 0 100 100 200 
			 Notes: 1. The information in the table is from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions and functional assessment data sourced from Atos Healthcare. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 claims and totals may not sum due to rounding. 
		
	
	Table 2 shows information on appeals that have been heard relating to PCAs carried out between March 2010 and February 2011 (as in Table 1). The Department holds information on appeals only once they have been heard by the Tribunals Service. Due to the time it takes for appeals to be submitted to the Tribunals Service and heard, it is likely there are more appeals that have not yet been heard, so the number of appeals is likely to change as more up to date information becomes available.
	
		
			 Table 2: Appeals heard for PCAs completed between March 2010 and February 2011 by decision made by the Tribunals Service 
			  Decision in favour of appellant Decision upheld Total 
			 Great Britain 5,200 6,100 11,300 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 100 200 300 
			 York unitary authority 0 0 0 
			 Notes: 1. The data presented above come from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, functional assessment data from Atos Healthcare and appeals data from the Tribunals Service. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 claims and totals may not sum due to rounding.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Females

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women claimed jobseeker's allowance in Coventry in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The stock number of female jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) claimants in Coventry, recorded in July 2011, is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Total female claimants receiving JSA in Coventry 3,332 
			 Notes: 1. Data taken from 100% count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems 2. Figures include clerically held cases 3. Caseload data is unrounded 4. Data are published at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Members: Correspondence

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Camberwell and Peckham of 27 July 2011 concerning the proposed closure of Camberwell Jobcentre Plus.

Chris Grayling: A reply was sent to the right hon. Member on 5 August 2011.

National Employment Savings Trust Scheme

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to allow transfers in to National Employment Savings Trust pensions before the 2017 review.

Steve Webb: The independent ‘Making Automatic Enrolment Work’(1) review, which reported last October, recognised that facilitating transfers is critical to success of reforms. The review concluded that these issues are not restricted to how transfer rules apply to NEST, but apply across the pensions market. The review also recognised the importance of the transfer restrictions on NEST during the roll-out of the reforms and recommended that the Government address the issue of transfers with a view to relaxing the restrictions on NEST once the reforms were fully rolled out.
	The Government agree with the review's conclusions and we are currently working with stakeholders to consider the wider issues of facilitating transfers. We will publish proposals on how issues arising from short service refunds rules, small pots and transfers might be addressed in the autumn.
	(1) Making automatic enrolment work: a review for the Department of Work and Pensions. 2010. Department for Work and Pensions. Cm 7954

Pensioners: Jarrow

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on how much per capita his Department has spent on pensioners in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the north-east and (d) the UK in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11.

Steve Webb: Parliamentary constituency, local authority and regional expenditure data are not available for all benefits. Details of benefits included in the per capita calculations in the following tables can be found in the footnotes. DWP is not responsible for Northern Ireland spending therefore we are unable to show expenditure per capita for the UK. We have shown per capita expenditure for Great Britain.
	
		
			 Table 1: Annual per capita expenditure for all benefits paid to pensioners (Great Britain)  (1) 
			 Per capita expenditure (£) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 Great Britain 8,100 8,200 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Annual per capita expenditure for all benefits recorded at local authority level paid to pensioners  (2) 
			 Per capita expenditure (£) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 South Tyneside 8,400 8,600 
			 North-east 8,100 8,200 
			 Great Britain 7,900 8,100 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Annual per capita expenditure for all benefits recorded at parliamentary constituency level paid to pensioners  (3) 
			 Per capita expenditure (£) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 Jarrow 7,500 (4)— 
			 South Tyneside 7,600 7,700 
			 North East 7,300 7,500 
			 Great Britain 7,400 7,500 
			 (1) Includes all benefits paid to pensioners: attendance allowance, bereavement benefit/widow's benefit, carer's allowance, council tax benefit, housing benefit, disability living allowance, pension credit, state pension, winter fuel payments, Christmas bonus, industrial injuries benefits, income support, over 75 TV licences, social fund, state second pension, and severe disablement allowance. (2) Includes all benefit paid to pensioners where data are available at local authority level: attendance allowance, bereavement benefit/widow's benefit, carer's allowance, council tax benefit, housing benefit, disability living allowance, pension credit, state pension and winter fuel payments. (3) Includes all benefit paid to pensioners where data are available at parliamentary constituency level: attendance allowance, bereavement benefit/widow's benefit, carer's allowance, disability living allowance, pension credit, state pension and winter fuel payments. (4) Population data at parliamentary constituency level are not available for 2010-11 until October 2011. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100. 2. Housing benefit and council tax benefit data are not available by parliamentary constituency. 3. Expenditure data for 2010-11 are based on latest estimates of outturn. Source: DWP statistical and accounting data and ONS population estimates.

Pensioners: Jarrow

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners (a) in Jarrow constituency, (b) in South Tyneside, (c) in the north-east and (d) nationwide were in receipt of pension credit in each year since its inception.

Steve Webb: The information available is in the following table:
	
		
			 Household recipients of pension credit in the Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside, the north-east and Great Britain 
			 As at February each year Jarrow parliamentary constituency South Tyneside local authority North-east Great Britain 
			 2004 4,980 9,660 135,940 2,282,040 
			 2005 5,760 11,150 155,420 2,654,210 
			 2006 5,870 11,380 157,420 2,708,970 
			 2007 5,880 11,350 157,600 2,730,480 
			 2008 5,890 11,200 156,460 2,722,780 
			 2009 5,860 11,220 156,140 2,723,310 
			 2010 5,950 11,360 157,550 2,734,940 
			 2011 5,970 11,070 154,630 2,693,720 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Pension credit was introduced on 6 October 2003. 3. Pension credit household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 4. These data are available on the Department's tabulation tool at: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/Default.asp 5. Northern Ireland data are the responsibility of the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data

Pensioners: Jarrow

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many pensioners were living in relative poverty in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) nationwide in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of pensioners were living in absolute poverty in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) nationwide in each year since 1997.

Steve Webb: The most commonly used measure of pensioner poverty relates to those with incomes below 60% of contemporary median income, After Housing Costs. This is often referred to as relative poverty.
	An alternative measure of poverty uses the 1998-99 median income held constant in real terms, as opposed to the contemporary median. This is often referred to as absolute poverty.
	Estimates of poverty, published in the Households Below Average Income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at regional level. Therefore, information is available for the North East region, but not available for Jarrow or South Tyneside.
	Three-year averages are used to report regional statistics as single-year estimates are subject to volatility.
	The first table shows the number and percentage of pensioners living in households in the North East of England with relative and absolute low incomes, After Housing Costs, for three year periods spanning 1997-98 to 2009-10, which is the latest year for which figures are available.
	The second table shows the number and percentage of pensioners in the UK in relative and absolute low income, After Housing Costs in each year since 1997-98. In 1997-98 the figures refer to Great Britain only. Thereafter, the figures are for the United Kingdom.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number and proportion of pensioners in the North East of England in low income according to relative and absolute measures, After Housing Costs 
			  Relative low income Absolute low income 
			 Three year period Number (million) Percentage Number (million) Percentage 
			 1997-98 to 1999-2000 0.1 31 0.1 30 
			 1998-99 to 2000-01 0.1 31 0.1 26 
			 1999-2000 to 01-02 0.1 28 0.1 20 
			 2000-01 to 2002-03 0.1 27 0.1 14 
			 2001-02 to 2003-04 0.1 23 — 10 
			 2002-03 to 2004-05 0.1 20 — 8 
			 2003-04 to 2005-06 0.1 17 — 7 
			 2004-05 to 2006-07 0.1 17 — 6 
			 2005-06 to 2007-08 0.1 19 — 7 
			 2006-07 to 2008-09 0.1 18 — 7 
			 2007-08 to 2009-10 0.1 17 — 8 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number and proportion of pensioners nationwide in low income according to relative and absolute measures, After Housing Costs 
			  Relative low income Absolute low income 
			  Number (million) Percentage Number (million) Percentage 
			 1997-98 2.9 29 3.0 31 
			 1998-99 2.9 29 2.9 29 
			 1999-2000 2.8 28 2.5 25 
			 2000-01 2.7 26 2.0 20 
			 2001-02 2.7 26 1.5 14 
			 2002-03 2.5 24 1.2 12 
			 2003-04 2.2 21 1.1 10 
			 2004-05 1.9 18 0.9 8 
			 2005-06 1.8 17 0.8 8 
			 2006-07 2.1 19 1.1 10 
			 2007-08 2.0 18 1.0 9 
			 2008-09 1.8 16 1.0 9 
			 2009-10 1.8 16 0.9 8 
			 ‘—’ = Indicates less than 50,000 pensioners. Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. Family Resources Survey figures are for Great Britain up to 1997-98, and for the United Kingdom from 1998-99 onwards. 2. Net disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax, payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 3. Figures have been presented on an After Housing Cost basis. For After Housing Costs, housing costs are deducted from income. 4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 5. The reference period for HBAI figures is the financial year. 6. Numbers of pensioners have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 pensioners. 7. Proportions of pensioners in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Pensions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to end short service refunds.

Steve Webb: The Government ran a call for evidence on regulatory differences which included short service refunds. The call closed on 18 April and the Government published their initial response on 27 June. Short service refund rules provide a valuable easement for employers and schemes to manage small pension pots.
	But short service refunds in defined contribution schemes are inconsistent with automatic enrolment. With more people saving and higher job chum, the Government do not want to see some individuals missing out on building their pension pot because of the rules.
	The Department will publish a full set of proposals on how Government intend to address the short service refunds rules, small pots and transfers in the autumn.
	This will include a decision on short service refunds in DC occupational schemes and a consultation on options to address small pension pots.

Pensions

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of non-UK EU citizens who attempted to claim state pension in the UK without passing the habitual residence test.

Steve Webb: The UK state pension is a contributory benefit. It is payable worldwide to people who claim it after reaching state pension age and who satisfy the national insurance contribution conditions.
	People do not need to satisfy the habitual residence test to get their state pension.

Pensions: City of York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) the City of York local authority area and (b) York Central constituency are in receipt of (i) the basic state pension and (ii) pension credit; and what the average weekly value of pension credit received is in each case.

Steve Webb: The information available is in the following table:
	
		
			 State pension and pension credit recipients in the York local authority area and York Central parliamentary constituency 
			  State pension claimants Pension credit household recipients Average weekly amount of pension credit (£) 
			 York local authority 37,690 6,480 48.97 
			 York Central parliamentary constituency 15,350 3,810 49.99 
			 Notes: 1. Case loads are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. The state pension figure provided is the total state pension case load. Around 1% of state pension recipients are not in receipt of the basic state pension, but are receiving additional pension only or graduated retirement benefit only. 3. Pension credit household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 4. Information is published on our tabulation tool at http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Sick Leave: Musculoskeletal Disorders

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with musculoskeletal conditions living in each (a) region of England and (b) country in Great Britain were on long-term sick leave in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010.

Maria Miller: There are few reliable sources of sickness absence data in Great Britain. Employers pay statutory sick pay (and in some cases occupational sick pay) but are not required to submit this information to the Government unless they are seeking reimbursement for monies paid under the percentage threshold scheme. Consequently there are no comprehensive centrally recorded administrative data. Sample sizes from survey data are also too small to address the specific question raised.

Social Fund: Funerals

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects Social Fund budgeting loans to be available to help relatives meet a family member's funeral expenses; and what criteria he plans to use to assess applicants.

Steve Webb: The provision that extends Social Fund budgeting loans to funeral and maternity expenses will come into force two months after Royal Assent is granted to the Welfare Reform Bill.
	The criteria used to assess applications will be the existing budgeting loan criteria.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of benefits paid to non-EU immigrants was in each of the last eight years.

Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
	The UK's benefit payment systems do not record the nationality of people receiving benefits and therefore it is not possible to determine the cost of benefits paid to non-EU nationals. I have, however, commissioned work to make information available on the nationality of benefit claimants.
	Access to income-related benefits(1) by non-European economic area nationals is strictly limited. They are excluded from such benefits because they are subject to immigration control, which prevents them from receiving public funds. Access to these benefits is therefore dependent on the type of leave the Home Office grants the individual.
	Those who have worked in the UK and paid national insurance contributions may claim contributory benefits such as contribution-based jobseeker's allowance if they satisfy the contributions and other conditions for the benefit.
	(1) Income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance; pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Social Security Benefits: Offenders

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to review the benefits paid to convicted criminals who reside in secure psychiatric hospitals.

Chris Grayling: Currently those detained in secure psychiatric hospitals who are sentenced and convicted criminals do not receive benefits. However, there are those who have not received a sentence who can, in certain circumstances, receive benefit. We are currently reviewing this policy.

Winter Fuel Payments: City of York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in York with at least one person aged 75 years or over received the winter fuel allowance in 2010-11.

Steve Webb: Information for 2010-11 is not currently available.
	The information is available in the document "Winter Fuel Payment recipients 2009-2010 by Parliamentary Constituencies and Gender". This is available in the Commons Library and on the internet at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wfp

Working Tax Credit: Parents

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many couples with children who claim working tax credit and who work between 16 and 24 hours a week include at least one partner who claims (a) carers allowance, (b) disability living allowance, (c) incapacity benefit and (d) disability living allowance on behalf of a disabled child.

Maria Miller: The information requested is not available. Neither the administrative data sets held by DWP, nor those held by HMRC, contain all the information needed to link receipt of working tax credit by the specified group with receipt of the benefits named in the question.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services: Concessions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the number of people aged 60 and over in the Leeds West constituency who are eligible for the concessionary coach travel scheme.

Norman Baker: Data relating to the number of people aged 60 years and older who are eligible for the concessionary coach travel scheme are not available at a constituency level.

Bus Services: Concessions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the number of people affected by the removal of the concessionary coach travel scheme.

Norman Baker: According to mid-2010 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics, there were 11,746,500 people aged 60 years and older who were eligible for the concessionary coach travel scheme in England.
	The Department does not hold information on the number of people with a disability who are eligible for the concessionary coach travel scheme in England.

Bus Services: Theft

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to improve co-ordination and provision of information between National Express and other coach operators and police forces in cases of theft from coaches.

Norman Baker: holding answer 8 September 2011
	Theft from coaches and the provision of information between coach operators and the police is a matter for the company involved and an operational matter for the relevant police force concerned.

Government Procurement Card

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the (a) purchase date, (b) transaction amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry if held for each individual transaction undertaken by British Transport Police using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Theresa Villiers: I am able to confirm to the hon. Member that neither the British Transport Police nor the British Transport Police Authority used the Government Procurement Card between 2008-09 and 2009-10.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service: Mental Health

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Attorney-General what training is provided to Crown Prosecution Service staff on dealing with people who have mental health disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has recently developed an online (e-learning) course on supporting victims and witnesses with mental health issues (as well as learning disabilities and autism). The course was launched in August 2011 and is mandatory for all prosecutors. In addition to this training, there is detailed guidance that sets out the practice and procedure to be followed when dealing with victims and witnesses with mental health issues. There is separate guidance to assist prosecutors when deciding whether to charge an offender who has a mental disorder.

Crown Prosecution Service: Mental Health

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Attorney-General what support is provided by the Crown Prosecution Service to suspected offenders with mental health disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not have direct contact with suspected offenders and is not responsible for providing support to defendants. There are 'Liaison and Diversion' schemes in police stations and courts that screen defendants for mental health problems. Defendants who consent will be assessed and may be referred to appropriate services for treatment and support.

Crown Prosecution Service: Mental Health

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment is made by the Crown Prosecution Service of a person's mental health before decisions on whether to charge them are taken; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not carry out its own assessment of the mental health of a suspect but may receive such information from a mental health liaison and diversion schemes based at police stations or courts or from other sources such as the police, relatives or offenders' solicitors. When there is sufficient reliable information about an offender's mental health, the CPS will take this into account when making the decision whether to charge. Evidence that the defendant has a significant physical or mental illness is a factor that the CPS will take into account when deciding if a prosecution is required in the public interest. However, the defendant's health must always be balanced with the seriousness of the offence and the need to safeguard the public.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b)  9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Dominic Grieve: The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of named day questions tabled Number answered substantially on the named day Percentage not answered substantially on the named day 
			 (a) 27 May 2010-19 July 2011 66 60 9 
			 (b) 9 March 2011-19 July 2011 18 17 6 
		
	
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Government Procurement Card

John Glen: To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish the (a) purchase date, (b) transaction amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry if held for each individual transaction undertaken by the Crown Prosecution Service using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Edward Garnier: Reports detailing Government Procurement Card transactions undertaken by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will be placed in the Library of the House. These reports cover the periods (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10 and show (a) purchase dates, (b) transaction amounts and (c) suppliers.
	The Department does not hold level 3 or enhanced transaction entry data centrally for individual transactions. Card holders do maintain manual records of the transactions they make which will include some level 3 equivalent data including item description. Providing this information would however involve checking individual records across the CPS which would incur disproportionate cost.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Owen Paterson: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Of the 34 questions received in this period, 31 (91%) were given a substantive answer on the day named.
	(b) Of the 23 questions received in this period, 23 (100%) were given a substantive answer on the day named.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2009-10 Parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Public Expenditure

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what efficiency savings in his Department's administrative budget (a) were delivered in 2010-11 and (b) are targeted in 2011-12.

David Mundell: The final administrative provision for the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General for 2010-11 was £7.889 million. Our actual expenditure was £7.66 million. For 2011-12, the administrative budget is £7.62 million.
	To spend less than our allocated budget in 2010-11 we reduced on costs wherever possible, utilised framework contracts between suppliers and other Government bodies to achieve maximum savings and cancelled the contract for the ministerial car in London. To ensure we deliver the required savings in 2011-12 we are aiming to reduce accommodation costs by sharing space with other Government bodies, as well as investigating the possibility of sharing some back office functions with the other offices.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

David Mundell: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Of the 177 questions received in this period, 167 (94%) were given a substantive answer on the day named.
	(b) Of the 54 questions received in this period, 51 (94%) were given a substantive answer on the day named.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister on implementing the Government's new strategy on human trafficking.

David Mundell: Policy responsibility for human trafficking rests with the Minister for Immigration. Combating human trafficking is a key priority for the Government and we are committed to tackling organised crime groups who profit from this human misery, and to protecting victims. There is an Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking to co-ordinate work on trafficking across Government which includes Ministers from the devolved Administrations. The next meeting is scheduled for mid-autumn.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliament: Security

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, which postholder is responsible for the setting of the criteria for the issuing of security passes for access to the Parliamentary Estate for people who are not hon. Members, employees of hon. Members, or House of Commons staff; and to which areas such passes provide access.

John Thurso: The Speaker sets the criteria for the issuing of security passes for access to the parliamentary estate for people who are not hon. Members, employees of hon. Members, or House of Commons staff. He receives advice on this from the House of Commons Administration Committee. Passes that are issued allow the pass holder access to the parliamentary estate.

Parliament: Security

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, which postholder authorised the opening of the Curtis Green entrance; who was consulted; what the cost to the public purse was of the opening; and what the purpose is of the opening.

John Thurso: The vehicle entrance at Derby Gate is scheduled to close from November for a period of about six months while works are carried out to install the perimeter security measures. The Curtis Green entrance offers the most practical solution for vehicles access and egress during the work. As the principal vehicle entry point, improvements to the existing entrance were needed. While upgrading the entrance, the opportunity was identified to improve traffic management in the long-term when Derby Gate re-opens by establishing a one-way traffic flow system. This one-way system has been in operation since the new facility was completed in August to resolve any problems in advance of Derby Gate's temporary closure. Planning consent was required, which included an assurance that there would not be disruption to the public road network. The business case for the Curtis Green entrance improvement works was approved in accordance with set procedures. Decisions on the authorisations of works and operations are made under delegations given by the House of Commons Commission, and in line with criteria set by Member committees where appropriate. It is not the Commission's practice to publish names of individual staff who took particular decisions.
	Subject to the agreement of the final account with the contractor, the total cost of the works to improve the Curtis Green entrance is estimated currently to be approximately £627,000.
	As well as consultation among officials, letters were sent to all Members in Norman Shaw and billboards were posted in Portcullis House.

Parliament: Security

Hugh Bayley: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many people employed by contractors to work for the House of Commons service were issued with parliamentary passes in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2010-11.

John Thurso: Our data retention policy means that we do not hold the data for 2001-02 and 2005-06, but we have the data for 2010-11. The number of contractors or people employed by contractors who held parliamentary passes valid during some or all of the period from 1 January 2010 to 9 September 2011 was as follows:
	
		
			 Type of pass Count 
			 PED contractors 2,015 
			 PED contractor with escort status 363 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 826 
			 Postal services 66 
			 Contractors to the House (restricted access) 574 
			 Contractors to the House 92

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Countryside: Access

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hectares of land in (a) England and (b) North Yorkshire and York have been opened to the public under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

Richard Benyon: The areas of land opened to the public under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 to date in England, North Yorkshire and York are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 H  ectares 
			  England North Yorkshire county City of York 
			 Mapped open country and registered common land(1) 865,119 174,025 188 
			 Dedicated land(2) 155,279 14,570 112 
			 Total 1,020,398 188,595 300 
			 (1) This is open country (mountain, moor, heath or down) or registered common land conclusively mapped under section 4 of the CROW, with the removal of some areas of excepted land (military byelaw, racecourse and aerodromes), and of areas subject to military and national security restrictions, on the basis that they are not subject to CROW access rights. Some of the land included in these figures will have been subject to pre-existing open access rights of the type mentioned in CROW section 15, and as a result will not be subject to CROW access rights. (2) This is land voluntarily dedicated by its owner or long leaseholder for open access, under CROW section 16.

Departmental Consultants

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many senior civil servants in her Department at each grade had worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst and Young, Deloitte or KPMG immediately prior to taking up their appointment in each of the last four years; what consultancy agreements her Department had with those firms in each such year; and how many consultants from those firms have advised her Department in each such year.

Richard Benyon: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which is an executive agency of my Department, recruited one senior civil servant from Deloitte, starting on 18 May 2011. No other senior civil servants were recruited by my Department from these companies in the last four years.
	DEFRA (including executive agencies) had the following contracts to provide services from these companies over the last four years, some of which were not for consultancy:
	
		
			 Date of order Company Agreement 
			 Core Department(1)   
			 11 February 2010 Deloitte LLP Deloitte contractor work—security analysis of Oracle E-Business Suite 
			 17 May 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA Control remediation Support 
			 17 May 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA Operational support 
			 17 May 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA debt and data project 
			 5 July 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA SPS debt and data project 
			 14 July 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA Operational Support (RMP 5811) 
			 30 July 2010 Deloitte LLP RPA Ops support, post-July 2010 
			 6 August 2010 Deloitte LLP External Training: Auditing Oracle 
			 9 August 2010 Deloitte LLP Internal Audit Services 
			 14 December 2010 Deloitte LLP Security analysis of Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) and underlying database 
			 25 January 2011 Deloitte LLP SPS Debt and Data project ph IV 
			 7 February 2011 Deloitte LLP Expertise on winding up an NDPB—Sustainable Development Commission 
			 7 March 2011 Deloitte LLP Finance support 
			 28 October 2009 Deloitte MCS Ltd DEFRA RPA Review: Workstream 1—Finance and Data 
			 14 December 2009 Ernst and Young LLP Provision of Carbon Accounting Specialist 
			 10 May 2010 Ernst and Young LLP PPM Interim Team 
			 12 April 2011 Ernst and Young LLP LEAN 
			 16 December 2010 KPMG LLG Provision of Internal Audit Interim Resource 
			 1 June 2011 KPMG LLG Science Agency Review Consultancy 
			 15 August 2011 KPMG LLG Interserve Annual Reconciliation Audit 2011 
			 27 November 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Catalyst Consultant 
			 18 December 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Catalyst interim 
			 21 December 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP DERA RPA Review: Workstream 2—Operations 
			 22 December 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Provision of Forensic Investigation Support 
			 19 January 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP DEFRA RPA Review: Workstream 3—Systems 
			 15 February 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Provision of Interim Head of Internal Audit 
			 9 April 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Seafish Financial Advisor 
			 7 May 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Specialist Audit Work 
			 13 May 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Infrastructure Adaptation Solutions to Climate Change 
			 27 August 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP RPA technical due diligence 
			 5 November 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Waste PFI Credits 
			    
			 Rural Payments Agency   
			 1 August 2008 Deloitte Review of RPA functions 
			 13 January 2009 Deloitte Specialist accounting advice re introduction of IFRS 
			 24 March 2009 KPMG Review and support of Internal Audit 
			 21 October 2009 KPMG Work for chairman of Audit Committee 
			 1 March 2010 KPMG Interim Head of Internal Audit 
			 15 June 2010 Deloitte Review of Finance 
			 11 September 2010 Deloitte Interim Head of Finance plus support 
			 1 December 2010 PwC Interim Head of Internal Audit plus support 
			 (1) The core Department holds central records of contracts from November 2009 onwards, when new systems and processes were introduced. Collation of data in this format relating to periods prior to November 2009 would incur disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	The number of contractors from these companies who have worked in RPA in each of the last four years is as follows:
	2007-08: 36
	2008-09: 8
	2009-10: 40
	2010-11: 13.
	Note that this shows the number of people who have worked in each financial year and therefore the same person will be counted against multiple years if their period of service crossed over from one year to the next.)
	In the core Department, the number of consultants used from these companies has not been kept centrally. To identify how many would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Work Experience

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree of 19 October 2010, Official Report, columns 629-30W, on departmental work experience, what guidelines her Department issues on recruitment, selection, advertisement and operation of unpaid placements.

Richard Benyon: The Department is currently reviewing and adding content to its work experience guidance. We will have this completed by mid September and the final version will be shared between DEFRA and the Agencies.
	The following documents are currently in use and will be made available in the House Library:
	DEFRA Work Experience guidance;
	DEFRA Placements and Scheme guidance;
	Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) HR Policy Recruitment (pages 9 and 10 specifically);
	Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) Work Experience leaflet.

Departmental Work Experience

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) persons undertaking unpaid work experience, (b) unpaid interns and (c) other persons in unpaid positions were working in her Department as of 1 July 2011.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA and its Agencies had a total of (a) 31 persons undertaking unpaid work experience (b) 0 unpaid interns (c) three in other unpaid positions.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of written questions tabled to her for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Richard Benyon: Between 27 May .2010 and 19 July 2011 638 questions for answer on a named day were tabled to DEFRA. Of these 343 or 53.8% were answered on the named day.
	Between 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011 203 questions for answer on a named day were tabled to DEFRA. Of these 94 or 46.3% were answered on the named day.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance, on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Environment Protection

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the National Ecosystem Assessment has made of the value of ecosystem services provided by the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Richard Benyon: The National Ecosystem Assessment has made assessments of the value of a range of ecosystem services across the UK at a variety of spatial scales. This work is presented in the full technical report, which can be found on the UK National Ecosystems website, with the economic, health and well-being values of these services examined in detail in chapters 22, 23 and 24.
	The valuation of ecosystem services was undertaken with reference to the distribution and condition of ecosystems across the country, rather than with reference to administrative boundaries. Therefore the UK National Ecosystem Assessment did not separately value ecosystem services provided by the Chilterns area of outstanding natural beauty, although much of the valuation work will be relevant to that area due to the range of ecosystems contained within it.

Fisheries: Western Sahara

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement on the indigenous population of Western Sahara.

Richard Benyon: I have made no assessment of the impact of the EU Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement on the indigenous population of Western Sahara. However, my officials have asked the EU Commission to request such an assessment from the Moroccan authorities.

Landfill

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which potentially dangerous particulates emanating from landfill and hazardous waste sites (a) are and (b) are not tested for; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: Environmental permits require operators to monitor any dust blowing off landfill sites. The results are normally expressed as the concentration of PM10s (all particles up to and including ten microns diameter).
	Similar conditions may be imposed on sites treating hazardous waste where there is a risk of particulates blowing off the site. The Environment Agency may undertake monitoring in response to public concern about a specific site, and the parameters monitored will depend on the materials handled.

Nature Conservation: Hydroelectric Power

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place to protect river habitats designated as special areas of conservation or sites of special scientific interest from hydro-electric schemes; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: Development in protected areas (special areas of conservation or sites of special scientific interest) is subject to specific legislation designed to ensure a high level of environmental protection. This includes hydro electric schemes.
	The Environment Agency and Natural England have procedures in place to ensure that hydro electric schemes are only permitted where no adverse impact will take place on the features for which the site has been designated.
	The Environment Agency is currently revising its Hydropower Good Practice Guidelines with help from Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales, developers and those with an interest in rivers. These will give further guidance on the conditions associated with hydropower schemes in protected areas.

Recycling: Coventry City Council

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding her Department allocated to Coventry city council for the purposes of increasing recycling rates in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA provided funding through the Waste Infrastructure Capital Grant to upper tier local authorities outside London to support invest in infrastructure, such as recycling and composting facilities, to boost recycling rates. Authorities in London receive support through the London Waste and Recycling Board.
	DEFRA provided Coventry city council with the following amounts:
	
		
			  £ 
			 (a) 2009-10 546,799.84 
			 (b) 2010-11 200,572.29 
		
	
	The Government provide funding more generally to local authorities to support the delivery of their services through the Revenue Support Grant. This funding is not ring-fenced, giving councils the freedom to work with their residents to decide how best to prioritise their spending, including on the provision of recycling services.

Recycling: West Midlands

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much revenue each local authority in the West Midlands has raised from selling recyclable waste in each year since 2006.

Richard Benyon: Data on revenue raised by local authorities from the sale of recyclable waste are not held centrally.

River Itchen: Hydroelectric Power

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the status is of the Shears Mill mini-hydro scheme application on the River Itchen; and what assessment her Department has conducted on the potential effects of this scheme on salmon spawning redds.

Richard Benyon: Eastleigh borough council has submitted an application for an impoundment licence in the River Itchen at Shears Mill to enable the restoration of turbines for small-scale electricity generation. The River Itchen is a designated site of special scientific interest and a special area of conservation, placing duties on the Environment Agency to protect its chalk stream habitat and species including salmon, bullhead and lamprey.
	Negotiations on the application continue in order to ensure the proposed scheme is sensitive to the needs of habitat and species protection.

Rural Advocate

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to provide an independent voice for rural communities after the expiry of the position of Rural Advocate.

Richard Benyon: The Government abolished the role of Rural Advocate in July 2010, and do not believe that it is necessary or appropriate to have a publicly-funded external rural campaigner when there are many respected rural organisations and commentators who already advocate strongly and effectively on behalf of rural people.
	DEFRA Ministers are the Rural Champions within Government, and the Department remains keen to work closely with external stakeholders to ensure that the needs and interests of rural communities and businesses are fully and fairly reflected in all policies and programmes.
	In addition, the Government are exploring the scope to encourage independent review of its approach to rural proofing, and will respond positively to any such review.

Salmon: Conservation

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what statutory duties the Environment Agency has to protect salmon spawning redds as part of its river management obligations.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency (EA) has a general duty set out in The Environment Act 1995 to
	“maintain, improve and develop fisheries of salmon, trout, lampreys, smelt and freshwater fish”.
	The EA also has a duty to further the conservation of salmon and their aquatic environment, which includes salmon eggs and the gravels in which they are laid. More specifically, under section 2(4) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 anyone who
	“wilfully disturbs any spawn or spawning fish, or any bed, bank or shallow on which any spawn or spawning fish may be, shall be guilty of an offence”.
	The maximum fine under section 2(4) is £2,500.

Sewers: Berkshire

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the number of privately-managed sewers in (a) Berkshire, (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituency.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has no estimates of the number of privately-managed sewers located in (a) Berkshire (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituencies. However, the impact assessment supporting The Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, which came into force on 1 July 2011, estimated that in England and Wales approximately 184,000 km of private sewers and 36,000 km of private lateral drains connect to and affect the public system, but are not the responsibility of the water and sewerage companies.

Trade Unions

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 August 2011, Official Report, column 1179W, on trade unions, for what reasons it is expected that the level of spending by her Department and its executive agencies on trade union activities will fall between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Richard Benyon: It is expected that the level of spending on trade union activities will fall because we have reduced the budget available for funding facility time in 2011-12. This is in line with other cost efficiencies we are making and reflects decreasing staff numbers in the Department. It has resulted in a reduction of full-time trade union representatives from 12 to six in core DEFRA. Further work is planned both in core DEFRA and the Executive Agencies to reduce further the number of full-time trade union representatives, and the consequential cost.

Water Supply

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) males and (b) females aged over 60 years had water supplies disconnected in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Richard Benyon: Disconnection from the water supply has been banned since 30 June 1999 under the Water Industry Act 1999. Figures on disconnections between 1997 and 1999 are given as follows:
	
		
			 Number of water supply disconnections made by water undertakers for non-payment of a water bill 
			  (a) Total disconnections (b) Non- households (c) Households Percentage of households 
			 1997-98 3,681 1,774 1,907 0.009 
			 1998-99 2,877 1,748 1,129 0.005 
			 1999-2000 3,582 3,455 127 0.001 
		
	
	The Government's recent consultation on water affordability, “Affordable Water: a consultation on the Government's proposals following the Walker Review of Charging”, which was published in April 2011 (and closed July 2011) stated:
	“The Government will not reverse the ban on disconnection. Nor will we allow water companies to use reduced flow devices (sometimes known as “trickle valves”) which, in the Government's view, are tantamount to disconnection and could result in the same social and health problems that would arise from disconnection.”

Wild Boar

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department has provided to the Forestry Commission on policy on the culling of wild boar on land managed by the Commission in each of the last four years.

James Paice: The Forestry Commission England would have received the same advice as any other owner or occupier requesting management advice for wild boar. Natural England's Wildlife Management and Licensing Team provides such advice on behalf of DEFRA. Its web page about wild boar has links to DEFRA's wild boar action plan, which outlines the Government's responsibilities in the management of feral wild boar in England, and to the wild boar best practice guides website.

Wild Boar

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of wild boar culled in each local authority area in each of the last four years.

Richard Benyon: Primary responsibility for feral wild boar management lies with local communities and individual landowners. Landowners, including local authorities, are free to control feral wild boar as they see fit as long as it is carried out in a humane and legal manner.
	There is no requirement for landowners or local authorities to report numbers of wild boar culled to DEFRA. This information is therefore not held centrally.

Wildlife: Licensing

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has considered removing cobras and other venomous snakes from the list of animals which require a licence to be kept privately.

James Paice: DEFRA has not considered removing cobras or other venomous snakes from the Schedule to the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which lists the species requiring a licence to be kept privately.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Andrew Mitchell: Between 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011, 2% of written questions tabled to the Department for International Development (DFID) for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named. Between 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011 the proportion was 1%. This is clearly not good enough and will improve.

India: Internally Displaced People

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to help prevent the displacement of the Adivasi peoples of central India.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) works in two central Indian states with high populations of Adivasi (tribal) people: Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
	DFID programmes in these states help to promote the health, education and welfare of tribal people, especially women and girls. DFID also supports civil society groups, who help tribal communities to combat discrimination and obtain public services and social entitlements.
	DFID is not currently supporting any programmes directly focused on preventing displacement.

Overseas Aid

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that aid recently allocated by his Department to Ethiopia reaches its intended recipients.

Andrew Mitchell: All DFID expenditure in Ethiopia is subject to stringent systems and safeguards to make sure that every pound spent is used for the intended purpose.
	Our approach is well illustrated by the Protection of Basic Services (PBS) programme, which provides health care, education and water to over 60 million people across Ethiopia. DFID support to PBS is protected by a range of systems and safeguards, including: quarterly audits; fairness tests that ensure that funds are distributed fairly across the regions and districts of Ethiopia; and the posting of budgets at local levels—to promote transparency and enable citizens to hold the authorities to account. We also provide funding to local civil society organisations to help citizens provide feedback on the quality and priorities of basic service delivery. And we are designing with other PBS contributors an independent grievance mechanism for citizens to report any wrongdoing.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

British Sky Broadcasting

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on subscriptions to Sky TV since May 2010.

Edward Davey: In the period May 2010 to present the Department has not held a subscription to Sky TV and has made no payments to Sky TV.

Departmental Expenditure

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse was for (a) first class and (b) all train travel by (i) Ministers, (ii) staff and (iii) special advisers in his Department between June 2001 and May 2002;
	(2)  how many overseas visits were made by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) special advisers in his Department between June 2001 and May 2002; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such visit;
	(3)  how many Government Procurement Cards were used by staff of his Department between June 2001 and May 2002; and what the (a) name of the supplier, (b) date and (c) value was of each transaction during this period;
	(4)  what the cost to the public purse was of (a) four star, (b) five star and (c) other hotel accommodation for (i) staff, (ii) Ministers and (iii) special advisers in his Department between June 2001 and May 2002;
	(5)  what the cost to the public purse was of (a) cars leased by his Department to staff and (b) Ministerial chauffeurs between June 2001 and May 2002;
	(6)  what the cost to the public purse was of stationery purchased by his Department between June 2001 and May 2002;
	(7)  what late payments his Department has made to contractors between June 2001 and May 2002; and what the cost to the public purse was of any (a) penalty charges or (b) interest charges incurred in that period.

Edward Davey: Due to the age of the information requested an answer can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

EU External Trade: Taiwan

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment of the likely impact on trade and business investment of an economic co-operation agreement between the EU and Taiwan.

Edward Davey: In 2008 the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei asked Copenhagen Economics to examine the economic merits of trade enhancement measures between the EU and the separate customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. The report estimated a boost of €2 billion per year to the EU GDP.

Insolvency

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an estimate of the effect of amending the insolvency rules to clearly define administration expenses on the number of businesses which would go into liquidation instead of administration.

Edward Davey: holding answer 12 September 2011
	Following a High Court decision in this area at the end of last year the Government invited views and evidence as to the impact of that decision from interested stakeholders. One of the potential consequences raised was that some companies may now go into liquidation rather than administration. We are considering all the representations made in deciding what legislative change might be required.

Intellectual Property

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to assist creative businesses in protecting their assets.

Edward Davey: There are a range of Government measures which will help creative businesses, including SMEs, to protect their innovative works. Those requiring or most likely to require legislation include ongoing reform of the Patents County Court to enable easier access to the courts, certain recommendations in the recent Hargreaves review of intellectual property (‘Digital Opportunity’), and measures flowing from the Digital Economy Act to enable copyright owners to tackle online infringement of copyright.

Micro Firms

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the case for exempting micro firms from (a) redundancy regulations and (b) other provisions of employment law.

Edward Davey: holding answer 12 September 2011
	A moratorium exempting micro businesses from new regulation applies to new employment law, and the recent Modern Workplaces proposals take this into account. However, no new regulations in relation to redundancy are currently planned, and no assessment has therefore been made in this specific area.
	More widely, the Employment Law Review is considering how to reduce the burden of existing regulation on businesses of all sizes, to make it easier for them to take on staff and grow. Any proposals for reform would need to assess the impact on the economy as a whole, including on all-sized firms, workers and Government. Where relevant, proposals would also need to consider whether an exemption for micro-businesses would be appropriate.

Post Offices

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the post office on (a) reduction of queuing in post offices and (b) improvements to customer services.

Edward Davey: I have regular discussions with Post Office Limited's management about a wide range of network and customer service issues but operational responsibility for quality and standards of service in post offices rests with the company. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the managing director of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Bank Services

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he is having with banks to encourage all banks to offer the full range of current account transactions at post offices; and what recent progress he has made.

Edward Davey: This Government have been clear that we wish to see a situation where all UK current accounts are accessible through the post office network. While this will ultimately be a commercial decision for each bank, Ministers and officials have had regular contact with HSBC and Santander, who do not currently extend this access to all of their customers, on this subject.
	Details of the arrangements between individual banks and Post Office Limited (POL) are a commercial matter, and therefore the responsibility of senior management at POL.

Sick Leave: Musculoskeletal Disorders

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to businesses of employees with long-term sickness as a result of musculoskeletal conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department does not have an estimate of the annual cost of businesses of employees with long-term sickness as a result of musculoskeletal conditions.
	Employers pay statutory sick pay (and in some cases occupational sick pay) and are not required to submit this information to the Government unless they are seeking reimbursement for monies paid under the Percentage Threshold scheme.

Superconductors: Research

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 July 2011, Official Report, column 990W, on superconductors: research, if he will provide details on the 45 grants to academic institutions for research into superconductors.

David Willetts: The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has provided long-term support for research into the study of superconductors. Currently the EPSRC portfolio for superconductivity represents 45 grants into UK academic institutions for a total value of £19 million. A full breakdown of the grants by grant title, institution and value will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Some of the grants in the table span a number of research areas with proportions devoted to superconductors. These proportions add up to 45 whole grants, spread over 67 projects.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Civil Disorder: Birmingham

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to support businesses which incurred a loss of earnings following the public disorder in Birmingham in August 2011.

Bob Neill: As part of a package of measures to help local communities and businesses to recover from these disturbances, we have set up the £20 million High Street Support Scheme. Working with local authorities, the scheme provides business rate hardship relief, building confidence and helping affected businesses get back up and running.
	The scheme is specifically designed to help as many businesses as possible get back in business as quickly as possible, rather than as a compensation fund for direct loss of earnings or business income.
	This does not mean that the scheme will not help small and medium-size enterprises in other related ways. The grants will cover many other costs of re-starting the business, including, for example, staff costs incurred while the business is affected by temporary closure, many of the costs not covered fully by insurance and help with cash flow while insurance claims are being made.
	It will also fully reimburse local authorities for their costs in providing hardship relief for businesses affected by the disturbances. I hope that local authorities would take full account of this in taking the decision to offer relief to affected businesses. I know that some local authorities have already decided to do this and as business rates are a significant aspect of a businesses operating costs, this should make a real difference to businesses.

Consumers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken since his appointment to improve consumer protection in the private rented sector; and if he will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: This Government are committed to ensuring that consumers are treated fairly. At the same time, we do not want to swamp business in red tape which would force up rents and reduced the choice of accommodation for tenants. The private rented sector is an excellent example of how our approach can secure improvements in consumer protection without excessive regulatory burdens. Recent initiatives include support for the industry led SAFEagent campaign; the publication of clear, accurate fact sheets on rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants; and coupled with legislation, in the Localism Bill, to safeguard tenancy deposit protection.

Departmental Flags

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to Lord Stoddart of Swindon of 26 July 2010, House of Lords, Official Report, column 272WA, on EU: flag, what steps his Department has taken to inform the European Commission that it has complied with Article 7(2) of EC Regulation 1828/2006 by flying the EU flag since 2007.

Bob Neill: As a consequence of Article 7(2) EC Regulation 1828/2006, my Department is obliged to fly the flag of the European Union in front of its premises for one week every year, after Europe Day. There is no formal requirement to inform the European Commission, but I am informed that visible failure to comply would result in the European Commission imposing fines (described as 'financial corrections').
	Ministers consider that European regulations should focus on ensuring that European funds are used to best promote the economic development of the EU. I wish to reassure hon. Members that the United Kingdom's Union flag always flies in superior position outside our Department on its primary flagpole.
	On the second flagpole, in the 51 weeks of the year that are not regulated by the European Commission, since May 2010 Ministers have undertaken to fly national, county and military flags of United Kingdom. This has included formally recognising historic counties such as Middlesex.
	On 1 April 2011, the Department flew a flag to mark Britain's maritime heritage.
	On 4 July 2011, we flew the flag of the United States of America to note the centenary of Ronald Reagan's birth and to mark the enduring ties of friendship between our two nations. We intend to fly a further range of worthy flags in the months ahead.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed by his Department between June 2007 and May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was in (i) cash and (ii) real terms of such appointments.

Bob Neill: The Department's special adviser and press office full-time equivalent staff numbers are summarised in the following table:
	
		
			  Special advisers Press office staff 
			 2007-08 3 38 
			 2008-09 3 43 
			 2009-10 3 45.58 
		
	
	The number of special advisers within the Department varies within the year (as appointments sometimes overlap). The numbers given in the above table represent the number there were for the majority of each year. In 2010, the Department employed three special advisers up to the election in May 2010, and two special advisers subsequent to the election.
	Salary costs for the Department's special advisers are given in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Cash terms 240,252 201,850 296,653 
			 Real terms 250,920 205,137 296,653 
		
	
	As part of the new Government’s transparency agenda, the individual salaries of special advisers in the current Administration are published on the Cabinet Office website; the pension arrangements are as laid out in the Cabinet Office’s model contract for special advisers.
	Salary costs for the Department’s Press Office, which includes staff working on marketing , news planning and speech-writing as well as press office duties, are given in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Cash terms 2,921,195 3,026,170 3,161,505 
			 Real terms 3,050,902 3,075,443 3,161,505 
		
	
	The source for real term calculations are the GDP deflators as published 28 June 2011 by HM Treasury; 2009-10 is used as the base year.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Bob Neill: 17% (143 out of 853) of named day parliamentary questions for answer between 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 were not answered on the due date. Within this, the proportion not answered on the due date between 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011 was 23% (58 out of 250).
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Derelict Land

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what incentives are in place to encourage developers to use brownfield sites in preference to greenfield sites.

Bob Neill: The Government believe that local communities should determine their own vision for the future development of their area, setting out in their local plan which sites are most appropriate for development. The draft National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that councils should make effective use of land, allocating for development land with the least environmental and amenity value where practical. We are removing the national brownfield target, as this had a distorting effect in some areas, driving up land prices and resulting in high density, unpopular development.

Derelict Land

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage change was in brownfield site development in the city region of (a) Bristol, (b) Newcastle Upon Tyne, (c) Liverpool, (d) Cardiff, (e) Nottingham, (f) Southampton, (g) Leeds, (h) Bradford, (i) Birmingham, (j) Stoke-on-Trent, (k) Greater Manchester and (l) Belfast between May 1997 and May 2010.

Bob Neill: The following table provides estimates of the proportion of land changing to developed use that was previously-developed land in Bristol, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Liverpool, Nottingham, Southampton, Leeds, Bradford, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester (defined as area of Manchester city council).
	Estimates for Cardiff and Belfast are not available in this form but some information may be available from the devolved Administrations.
	Such ‘brownfield’ development included building on residential gardens. The estimates are shown as averages for ‘four year periods’ because of volatility in estimates at local authority level for individual years.
	
		
			 Percentage of land area 
			 Local authority 1995-98 1999-2002 2003-06 2007-10 
			 Birmingham 86 62 66 87 
			 Bradford 53 68 86 62 
			 Bristol 60 77 84 70 
			 Leeds 61 61 69 67 
			 Liverpool 86 77 71 91 
			 Manchester 88 41 70 83 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 80 74 82 61 
			 Nottingham 88 46 41 75 
			 Southampton 82 52 61 86 
		
	
	
		
			 Stoke-on-Trent 95 59 55 90 
			 Source: Land Use Change Statistics, Department for Communities and Local Government

Derelict Land

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage change was in brownfield site development between (a) 1997 and 2007, (b) May 1997 and May 2010 and (c) May 2010 and the latest period for which figures are available.

Bob Neill: The following table provides estimates for the proportion of land changing to developed use that was previously-developed land in England over the period 1997 to 2009. Such 'brownfield' development including building on residential gardens.
	
		
			  Percentage of land area England 
			 1997 51 
			 1998 51 
			 1999 52 
			 2000 53 
			 2001 57 
			 2002 59 
			 2003 57 
			 2004 60 
			 2005 61 
			 2006 52 
			 2007 55 
			 2008 53 
			 2009(1) 51 
			 (1) Provisional estimate. Source: Land Use Change Statistics, Department for Communities and Local Government

Derelict Land: Greater London

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage change in brownfield site development in Greater London was between 1997 and 2010.

Bob Neill: The following table provides estimates for the proportion of land changing to developed use that was previously-developed land for London, for the years 1997 to 2009 (the latest available estimate). Such 'brownfield' development including building on residential gardens.
	
		
			  Percentage of land area London 
			 1997 81 
			 1998 88 
			 1999 80 
			 2000 89 
			 2001 85 
			 2002 88 
			 2003 91 
			 2004 91 
			 2005 91 
			 2006 78 
			 2007 95 
			 2008 81 
		
	
	
		
			 2009(1) 92 
			 (1) Provisional estimate. Source: Land Use Change Statistics, Department for Communities and Local Government

Employment Agencies: Public Finance

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of employment of external recruitment consultants by local authorities in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  if he will issue guidance to local authorities on the cost implications of employing external recruitment consultants.

Bob Neill: It is for councils, as individual employers, to ensure that they manage and recruit their work forces in a way that delivers the best value for money for taxpayers. While we have no plans to publish any such guidance, given the need to achieve savings, councils will wish to review their work force costs, including the use of consultants, to help preserve front-line services.
	All local authorities are asked to make public any item of spend over £500. This means that any residents can see for themselves how much their local authority is spending on external recruitment consultants. The Government are clear that local authorities should be held to account by the citizens that they serve, not central Government Departments.

Government Procurement Card

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Government Procurement Cards were used by staff of his Department between June 2007 and May 2010; and what the (a) name of the supplier, (b) date and (c) value was of each transaction during this period.

Bob Neill: I refer my hon. Friend to my answers to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie), on 7 June 2011, Official Report, columns 33-34W, and 11 July, 2011, Official Report, column 56W. Copies of Government Procurement Card transactions for financial years 2009-2010, 2008-2009, 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 have been deposited in the Library of the House.
	The Department has also published full details of all transactions on the Government Procurement Card since 2006 (including financial year 2010-11) on its Freedom of Information disclosure log on the Department's website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/foi/disclosure-log/disclosurelog2011/jul2011/gpc20062011/
	A total of 135 Government Procurement Cards were used in the period June 2007 to May 2010.
	The Department has reviewed its policy on Government Procurement Card usage and has reduced the number of cards on issue to 36.

Housing: Energy

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to ensure that new houses meet targets for (a) the reduction of carbon emissions and (b) energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: holding answer 9 September 2011
	The “Plan for Growth”:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_growth.pdf
	set out our policy on zero carbon homes so that new homes do not add additional carbon emissions to our carbon footprint.
	As part of our policy we want to ensure that zero carbon homes must be energy efficient homes. We have already made clear our intention to introduce the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard as recommended by the independent Zero Carbon Hub. This will ensure that homes are warmer, and cheaper and easier to heat.
	My Department is working on other aspects of the policy, including looking at the right level for carbon reductions on the site of the homes itself; to build on the industry's commitment to move to an approach based on real world carbon savings rather than modelled reductions in emissions; and, where emissions cannot be mitigated cost effectively measures on the site of the home, to ensure that mechanism is available that allows house builders to meet their obligations at a cost no higher than the Government's long term value of carbon.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change has a range of fuel poverty policies to assist low income, vulnerable households irrespective of the age of the property.

Inform

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has provided funding to the organisation Inform in the last five years.

Andrew Stunell: Inform, a centre for independent research on new religious movements, has received funding from the Department in each of the last five years. We are considering whether further grant support is appropriate.

Inventory Companies

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals for the regulation of inventory companies instructed by the private rented sector; and if he will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: It is a general principle of this Government that we will not rush into regulation where voluntary approaches to ensuring safeguards for consumers have not been properly tested and where there is little evidence to suggest that such an approach is needed. Therefore, given the paucity of evidence to suggest any problems with inventory companies that might be remedied by regulation, we have no plans to regulate this sector. Excessive regulation would push up rents and reduce the choice of accommodation for tenants.

Local Government: Expenditure

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant the oral answer of 5 September 2011, Official Report, column 5, on local government expenditure, what the evidential basis is for the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's estimate that 20 per cent. savings could be made by local authorities on expenditure.

Bob Neill: It is the Local Government Group's own findings from its Local Productivity Programme, which has assessed the experience of councils of making savings through collaborative procurement, that has identified savings of up to 20% in some service areas. This is evidenced in the Procurement, Capital and Shared Assets Productivity Workstream's published “Response to Spending Review, Quick Wins Strategy, October 2010”. The document is available here:
	http://www.niepbuiltenvironment.org.uk/documents/PCSAWorkstream-QuickWinsStrategyOct2010.pdf

Local Government: Manpower

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) local authorities in England and (b) City of York council spent on employing (i) educational and (ii) other staff in (A) 2002-03 and (B) the latest year for which figures are available; and what change there has been in the proportion of (1) local authority and (2) City of York council expenditure on staff since 2002-03.

Bob Neill: The information requested is in the following table:
	
		
			 Employee expenditure 
			 £ million 
			  2002-03 2010-11  (1) 
			 City of York   
			 Education service 67.5 99.5 
			 Other services 37.6 84.3 
			 All services 105.1 183.7 
			    
			 Percentage of total net current expenditure—all services 63 72 
			    
			 England   
			 Education service 21,972.8 32,463.5 
			 Other services 22,372.0 33,083.3 
			 All services 44,344.8 65,546.9 
			    
			 Percentage of total net current expenditure—all services 68 64 
			 (1) Provisional outturn 
		
	
	Total expenditure on employees as reported by authorities to Department for Communities and Local Government on Revenue Outturn (RO) forms. This includes all direct and indirect employee expenses including pay, employers' national insurance and pension contributions, location allowances and other employee related costs such as training and recruitment and retention premiums.
	Figures are not necessarily comparable year-on-year owing to changes in the funding, function and structure of local authorities during this time.

Local Government: Standards

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what performance statistics local authorities are under a statutory requirement to collect; and what plans he has for any changes to such requirements in the next three years.

Bob Neill: Following the abolition in 2010-11 of local area agreements and the National Indicator Set there is no longer any general centralised collection of performance data from local authorities. The Single list of central Government data requirements from local government (the "Single Data List") published by my Department on 14 July 2011 lists all data returns that central Government expects from local government. Central Government does not distinguish between data provided to it for performance or other purposes.
	The following extract from the Single Data List shows all those data collections which local authorities are under a specific statutory obligation to collect. This list includes all statutory collections (including those which are required to fulfil legal obligations under European/International law and directives), regardless of whether or not they are collected for performance purposes.
	The length of this list illustrates the scale of the data reporting and bureaucratic burdens placed on local government by central Government.
	Since May 2010, Departments across Whitehall have ended a wide range of unjustified data demands and bureaucratic burdens placed on local government; including Comprehensive Area Assessment, the National Indicator Set, the 4,700 Local Area Agreement targets, and over 40 separate data collection requirements such as the Place Survey. This has already reduced the bureaucratic burden placed on local government, but there is more to do.
	Reducing unnecessary burdens will free councils to protect frontline services and focus spending on local priorities. The coalition Government are committed to giving councils more freedoms and flexibilities.
	
		
			 Extract from the Single Data List showing all local authority data collections which are a statutory requirement 
			 Data collection Department Reference  (1) 
			 House Building Return (form P2) DCLG 002-00 
			 Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Claim forms DCLG 015-00 to 017-00 
			 Housing Revenue Account Subsidy base data forms DCLG 018-00 
			 Housing Capital Receipts pooling DCLG 167-00 
			 Housing Capital Receipts pooling—signed paper return DCLG 168-00 
			 Annual Monitoring Reports DCLG 024-00 
			 Revenue Summary DCLG 026-00 
		
	
	
		
			 Revenue Grants DCLG 027-00 
			 Revenue Outturn DCLG 028-00 
			 Trading Services Return DCLG 029-00 
			 Subjective Analysis Return DCLG 030-00 
			 Business Improvement Districts Outturn DCLG 031-00 
			 Revenue Account budget DCLG 032-00 
			 Revenue Account Specific and Special Grants DCLG 033-00 
			 Business Improvement Districts Revenue Account DCLG 034-00 
			 Capital Outturn Return DCLG 035-00 to 038-00 
			 Capital Forecast Return DCLG 039-00 
			 Capital Estimates Return DCLG 040-00 
			 Capital Payments and Receipts (forms CPR 1 to 4) DCLG 041-00 
			 Budget Requirement returns (forms BR1 to 3) DCLG 042-00 
			 Quarterly Return of Council Taxes and Non-domestic rates DCLG 043-00 and 166-00 
			 Quarterly Revenue Outturn DCLG 044-00 
			 Council Tax Base DCLG 045-00 
			 National Non-domestic Rates Return 1 DCLG 046-00 
			 National Non-domestic Rates Return 2 downward calculation DCLG 047-00 
			 National Non-domestic Rates Return 3 DCLG 048-00 
			 Local Government Pension Scheme Funds (form SF3) DCLG 050-00 
			 Monthly Borrowing and Lending Inquiry DCLG 051-00 
			 Quarterly Borrowing and Lending Inquiry DCLG 052-00 
			 Public Contracts Regulations 2006 DCLG 213-00 
			 Quarterly Return of Wages and Salaries DCLG 053-00 
			 Fire and rescue incident data DCLG 060-00 
			 Fire and rescue service non-financial annual returns DCLG 061-00 
			 Fire Fighters Pension Fund—Non-financial data DCLG 172-00 
			 Fire Fighters Pension Fund—Financial data DCLG 173-00 
			 Imports of products of animal origin from third countries DEFRA 068-00 
			 Animal Welfare: during transport; on Farm DEFRA 069-00 
			 Prosecutions under the Animal Health Act 1981 (and other animal health and welfare legislation) (Section 80 Report) DEFRA 073-00 
			 Local Pollution Control Statistical Survey DEFRA 075-00 
			 Incidents under the Environmental Damage Regulations 2009 DEFRA 078-00 
			 Fly-tipping incidents (Flycapture) DEFRA 079-00 
			 Flood and coastal erosion risk management and sustainable drainage systems DEFRA 080-00 
			 Developments in flood risk areas DEFRA 243-00 
			 WasteDataFlow—LA waste management statistics DEFRA 082-00 
			 Local Authority Private Water Supplies Data submission DEFRA 083-00 
			 Child Death Review Panels (form LSCB1) DfE 086-00 
			 Children in Need Census DfE 087-00 
			 Children Looked After (form SSDA903) DfE 088-00 
			 Missing from Care and Home DfE 089-00 
			 Private Fostering (form PF1) DfE 090-00 
			 Secure Children's Homes (form SA1) DfE 092-00 
			 Early Years Census DfE 096-00 
			 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile DfE 098-00 
			 Admissions: Parental Preferences met DfE 100-00 
			 Admissions: report to the School Adjudicator DIE 101-00 
			 Key Stage assessment data DfE 161-00 
			 School Census DfE 159-00 
			 Alternative Provision Census DfE 102-00 
			 Parental Responsibility (Attendance and Behaviour) DfE 104-00 
			 Pupil Referral Unit Census DfE 105-00 
			 School Admissions Appeals DfE 107-00 
			 School Capacity DfE 108-00 
			 School Exclusion Appeals DfE 109-00 
			 School Workforce Census DfE 111-00 
			 Section 251 financial return—budget DfE 113-00 
			 Section 251 financial return—outturn DfE 182-00 
			 Special Educational Needs Statement Completion DfE 115-00 
			 Standards Fund monitoring (TO CEASE DURING 2011-12) DfE 116-00 
			 Teacher Pension Contributions DfE 117-00 
		
	
	
		
			 Teacher Pension Service DfE 118-00 
			 16-18 Year-olds not in employment education or training DfE 119-00 
			 Chief Finance Officer Sign-Off Statements DfE 120-00 
			 Consistent Financial Reporting DfE 171-00 
			 Children with Statements of Special Educational Needs (form SEN2) DfE 189-00 
			 Road Lengths Survey DfT 132-00 
			 Personal Social Services Expenditure return (form PSSEX1) DH 133-00 
			 Referrals, Assessments and Packages of Care DH 134-00 
			 Adult Social Care Survey DH 135-00 
			 Adult Social Care Combined Activity Return DH 136-00 
			 Abuse of Vulnerable Adults return DH 137-00 
			 Mental Health Guardianship return (form SSDA702) DH 138-00 
			 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Return DH 139-00 
			 Carers Survey DH 140-00 
			 National Minimum Data Set—Social Care workforce data DH 142-00 
			 Register of blind and partially sighted people (form SSDA902) DH 144-00 
			 Register of deaf or hard of hearing people (form SSDA910) (PROPOSED FOR DELETION) DH 174-00 
			 Grant Funded Services return (PROPOSED FOR DELETION) DH 175-00 
			 Personal Social Services Staffing (form SSDSOOI) (PROPOSED FOR DELETION) DH 176-00 
			 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit subsidy estimates and claims DWP 150-00 
			 Discretionary Housing Payment estimates and claims DWP 151-00 
			 Whole of Government Accounts HMT(DCLG) 183-00 
			 Alcohol and Late Night Refreshment Licensing HO 163-00 
			 Weights and measures enforcement (section 70) BIS/NMO 001-00 
			 Public rights of way BIS/OS 158-00 
			 Parish council boundaries BIS/OS 177-00 
			 National Fraud Initiative DCLG/AC 170-00 
			 Fraud and Corruption Survey DCLG/AC 242-00 
			 Gambling Licensing Authority Returns DCMS/GC 207-00 
			 Small Society Lottery DCMS/GC 208-00 
			 Gambling Temporary Use Notices DCMS/GC 209-00 
			 Club Machine Permits and Club Gaming Permits DCMS/GC 210-00 
			 Gambling Premises data DCMS/GC 211-00 
			 Flood risk management capacity DEFRA/EA 244-00 
			 Strategic Overview of Flood and Coastal Erosion risk DEFRA/EA 245-00 
			 Reporting on EU flood risk regulations DEFRA/EA 246-00 
			 Newly Qualified Teachers—Induction Returns Dfe/GTC 200-00 
			 Fee Collection—Salary Deduction Process DfE/GTC 201-00 
			 Childcare inspection data DfE/Ofsted 219-00 
			 Local Authority Adult and Community Learning provision DfE/Ofsted 225-00 
			 Standard bus permits DfT/TC 124-00 
			 Health protection Part2A Order notifications DH/HPA 143-00 
			 Notification of Infectious Diseases DH/HPA 233-00 
			 Billing Authority Report HMRC/VOA 241-00 
			 Youth Justice Management Information System MOJ/YJB 180-00 
			 Food Hygiene (Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System) FSA 190-00 
			 Food Standards (Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System) FSA 191-00 
			 Imported Food (Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System) FSA 192-00 
			 Central Lists of Feed Business Establishments FSA 193-00 
			 Approved Food Premises FSA 194-00 
			 Imported Food Safeguard Measures FSA 195-00 
			 Animal Feed Data returns FSA 196-00 
			 Performance Standards for Electoral Registration Officers Electoral Commission(2) 227-00 
			 Performance Standards for Returning Officers Electoral Commission(2) 228-00 
			 Statement of Postal Ballot Papers Electoral Commission(2) 229-00 
			 Annual Financial Information return Electoral Commission(2) 230-00 
			 Electoral administration plans Electoral Commission(2) 231-00 
			 (1) Reference numbers relate to the collection reference in the main Single Data List. (2) Collections by the Electoral Commission are included on the Single Data List for completeness. The Commission is a body entirely independent from Government, and these returns are not subject to the normal arrangements for the single data list. 
		
	
	The full Single Data List is published on the Department for Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/tacklingburdens/singledatalist/
	The Government are committed to reducing the burden of data collection on local authorities, and the Single Data List provides a mechanism for ensuring this. However, there will be situations where new reporting requirements are necessary. For example, from 2013-14 local authorities will be reporting on public health outcomes and other issues following transfer of responsibilities and functions in this area. These and any other changes will be captured and reflected in the planned annual refresh of the Single Data List.

Non-domestic Rates

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the likely yield from national non-domestic rates in each local authority area in each of the next five years;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the forecast change in national non-domestic rates yield in each local authority area in each of the next five years.

Bob Neill: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), set out proposals to allow local retention of business rates in his oral statement to the House on 18 July 2011, Official Report, columns 662-64. The Government's proposals will ensure a stable starting point, so that no local authority will be worse off as a result of its business rates base at the outset of the new system.
	The precise impact of the Government's proposals upon individual local authorities will depend on a range of factors, including future business rates growth at the local level, the behavioural response to the changes, and the final design of the scheme following consultation. The Government have sought views on their proposals and, on 19 August, published eight technical papers which provide further details on the proposals, together with an interactive calculator. The calculator enables users to explore the possible effects of certain scheme design options based upon their own assumptions about local circumstances.
	The proposals incorporate a range of protections to ensure councils can meet local needs, including a safety net for places in need of additional support, funded by a levy recovering a share of disproportionate gain, while at the same time ensuring that councils always benefit from encouraging business growth in their area.
	Information is available at a local authority level for 2011-12 forecast national non-domestic rates to be collected. This is as supplied by local authorities:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/1910477.xls
	Out-turn information is also available for 2010-11 at local authority level as supplied by local authorities:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localregional/localgovernmentfinance/statistics/nondomesticrates/outturn/outturndatalocallevel/

Non-domestic Rates

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's consultation on business rates retention of July 2011, paragraphs 3.9 to 3.20, whether local authorities will be able to appeal against (a) the baseline and (b) tariff or top-up designated to them by Government.

Bob Neill: It is our intention that the proposed local authority baselines, tariffs and top ups, and the basis on which they are calculated, will be subject to consultation and that local authorities will be able to make representations on those proposals.

Smoking: Public Places

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what legal requirements exist in respect of the erection and display of signage where a local authority seeks to introduce a smoking ban in a public place where smoking is not otherwise prohibited by law.

Bob Neill: The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 grants deemed consent to display advertisements which give a direction or warning with respect to the land or buildings on which they are displayed. There are restrictions on the dimensions of such advertisements and their height above ground level.

Tenants: Leasehold

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the rights of business leasehold tenants to acquire properties; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals in respect of such rights.

Grant Shapps: We do not believe most business tenants would benefit from a right to acquire the freehold and have no plans to legislate. Business tenants normally enjoy statutory rights of security of tenure, and there is generally a plentiful supply of commercial premises for purchase on the open market for businesses that would prefer to occupy their property freehold.

Travellers

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the provision of Traveller sites over the next five years.

Andrew Stunell: On 13 April the Government published their draft planning policy for Traveller sites for consultation. The consultation on the Government's draft planning policy for Traveller sites ended on 3 August. The Government are considering the responses and intend to publish their new policy as soon as possible.

Vandalism

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has considered the merits of conducting an assessment of the effects on local environments of unauthorised fly-posting; and if he will consider the merits of taking steps to control fly-posting.

Bob Neill: The Government have not undertaken an assessment on the effects of fly-posting on the environment. However the latest annual Local Environmental Quality Survey of England 2009-10, undertaken by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of the Government, indicates that fly-posting was a concern at only 1% of sites surveyed.
	Local authorities have a wide range of powers to remove or obliterate illegal advertisements, prosecute offenders and recover their costs. They may also issue notices to require those responsible to remove fly-posters. Guidance on these can be found in paragraphs 129-144 of the Annex to DCLG Circular 03/2007 "Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007" at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/circulartown
	The good practice guide “The Control of Fly-Posting” can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/156909.pdf
	Further powers to remedy persistent problems with unauthorised advertisements by requiring owners or occupiers of “relevant surfaces” to carry out specified measures to prevent or reduce the frequency of fly-posting are being taken in the Localism Bill.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Government Procurement Card

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will publish the (a) purchase date, (b) transaction amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry if held for each individual transaction undertaken by Arts Council England using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not hold information relating to its arm's length bodies' Government Procurement Cards.
	Arts Council England does' not hold this information in the format requested centrally, and to collate it would exceed the disproportionate cost limit.

Internet: Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when he expects the 4G spectrum auction to be completed.

Edward Vaizey: Ofcom is currently expecting to conduct the auction in the first half of 2012.

Internet: Broadband

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with mobile telephone network operators on the minimum Sub-1GHz spectrum portfolio required by an operator in order for them to provide the coverage needed to support the universal broadband commitment.

Edward Vaizey: No discussions have been held with network operators on the minimum spectrum portfolios, as the design and timing of the auction is a matter for Ofcom. Ofcom consulted on competition issues in the mobile sector and the combined auction earlier this year and received representations from the network operators and others regarding the design of the auction.

Museums: Yorkshire and Humberside

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many people visited each of the national museums in Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 1996-97.

Edward Vaizey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the then Minister of State, Culture, Media and Sport, the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge) on 8 December 2009, Official Report, columns 194-6W.
	Additionally, the number of visitors in 2009-10 and 2010-11 to the national museums which fall within the Yorkshire and Humber region are in the following table:
	
		
			  National Coal Mining Museum   f  or England National Media Museum National Railway Museum, York Royal Armouries Leeds Total 
			 2009-10 118,417 606,837 709,166 269,591 1,704,011 
			 2010-11 107,582 497,522 630,396 273,824 1,509,324

National Lottery: Sports

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what financial assistance (a) the Government and (b) the National Lottery has given to (i) amateur sports clubs, (ii) sport in schools and (iii) professional sports clubs in York since 1996-97.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England invests national lottery and Exchequer funding in community sport.
	Sport England does not hold details of Exchequer funding prior to 2002-03, however since this date the City of York local authority has been awarded £281,800 of Exchequer funding, and since 1996-97 £2,795,987 of lottery funding.
	Of this, £2,067,594 was awarded to amateur and professional sports clubs, and £1,010,193 to local authorities and statutory bodies. Sport England does not record funding by the categories you have requested, and to identify the funds in this way could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Newspaper Press: Olympic Games 2012

Jo Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what representations he has received from London-based local newspapers concerning media accreditation during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics;
	(2)  what advice he has received from (a) the British Olympic Association and (b) the International Olympic Committee concerning media accreditation for London-based local newspapers during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with (a) the British Olympic Association and (b) the International Olympic Committee on steps to ensure that London-based local newspapers are able to provide coverage of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics;
	(4)  whether he plans to provide support to London-based local newspapers to ensure that they are able to provide coverage of London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics;
	(5)  how many requests have been made by London-based local newspapers for media accreditation during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics;
	(6)  if he will assess the merits of providing London-based local newspapers with media accreditation during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Hugh Robertson: The Secretary of State has received two representations. The British Olympic Association (BOA), as the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is responsible for allocating accreditation for the Olympic Games for media based in the United Kingdom. The British Paralympic Association (BPA), as the National Paralympic Committee, is similarly responsible for UK media allocation to the Paralympic Games. The process for the Paralympic Games has yet to be finalised.
	I understand from the BOA that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the BOA far more accreditations than in the past and more accreditations than any other National Olympic Committee. Over 3,000 applications have been received for the approximately 400 accreditations available.
	To assist with the allocation process, the BOA established a Media Accreditation Committee composed of representatives from a broad spectrum of the written and photographic press respected for their knowledge and experience from Olympic Games or understanding of the UK media.
	For 2012 the IOC awarded BOA the following number of accreditations:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Journalist 270 
			 Photographer 80 
			 Sport specific journalist 20 
			 Sport specific photographer 20 
			 Support staff 8 
			 Technician 12 
		
	
	When determining the allocation of accreditations BOA has taken into account, among other things, continuous editorial commitment to Olympic sport throughout the four-year Olympic cycle; history of attending Olympic Games; circulation numbers; publication frequency. Throughout this process the BOA's primary purpose has been to ensure that the allocations made are fair given the limited number of accreditations available. The Press Association has been appointed by the IOC as the National Host News Agency for the London 2012 Olympic Games (and has also been appointed by the International Paralympic Committee as the National Host News Agency for the 2012 Paralympic Games) to service the local and regional press in the UK and they have committed to covering every British athlete at the games. The BOA has also agreed that regional written and photographic press who applied for accreditation should benefit from a small number of passes to be allocated on a pool basis. The distribution of these will be decided by the BOA with guidance from the Newspaper Society, in consultation with regional publishers. The Newspaper Society will be in touch with representatives of regional newspaper groups in the next few months to set up a meeting to discuss practical arrangements over operation of the pool.
	I will shortly be writing to the BOA on this matter and I will ensure the outcome of this correspondence is passed on to my hon. Friend.

Sports: Yorkshire and Humberside

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on sport in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) City of York local authority area in each year since 1996-97.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England invests national lottery and Exchequer funding in community sport.
	A breakdown of Exchequer and lottery funding in Yorkshire and the Humber and the City of York local authority area can be found in the following tables. Sport England does not hold details of Exchequer funding prior to 2002-03.
	
		
			 Exchequer 
			  Region Total   (£) 
			 2002-03 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,558,804 
			 2003-04 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,349,205 
			 2004-05 Yorkshire and the Humber 4,983,347 
			 2005-06 Yorkshire and the Humber 6,207,436 
			 2006-07 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,840,496 
			 2007-08 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,724,876 
			 2008-09 Yorkshire and the Humber 10,333,111 
			 2009-10 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,353,093 
			 2010-11 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,202,472 
			 2011-12 Yorkshire and the Humber 5,513,364 
			 Grand total  71,066,205 
		
	
	
		
			 Lottery 
			  Region Total   (£) 
			 1996-97 Yorkshire and the Humber 14,914,022 
			 1997-98 Yorkshire and the Humber 11,241,054 
			 1998-99 Yorkshire and the Humber 22,638,684 
			 1999-2000 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,718,667 
			 2000-01 Yorkshire and the Humber 44,691,693 
			 2001-02 Yorkshire and the Humber 51,067,268 
			 2002-03 Yorkshire and the Humber 15,827,220 
			 2003-04 Yorkshire and the Humber 18,408,969 
			 2004-05 Yorkshire and the Humber 15,205,251 
			 2005-06 Yorkshire and the Humber 11,394,807 
			 2006-07 Yorkshire and the Humber 10,515,917 
			 2007-08 Yorkshire and the Humber 7,673,690 
			 2008-09 Yorkshire and the Humber 5,327,842 
			 2009-10 Yorkshire and the Humber 30,853,738 
			 2010-11 Yorkshire and the Humber 7,207,008 
			 2011-12 Yorkshire and the Humber 12,538,140 
			 Grand total  289,223,970 
		
	
	The regional figures include national awards to governing bodies of sport situated in the region and funding to the English institute of Sport in Sheffield.
	
		
			 Exchequer 
			  Local authority Total   (£) 
			 2007-08 York 131,000 
			 2008-09 York 149,800 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 York 1,000 
			 Grand total  281,800 
		
	
	
		
			 Lottery 
			  Local authority Total (£) 
			 1996-97 York 20,754 
			 1997-98 York 89,212 
			 1998-99 York 288,690 
			 1999-2000 York 572,367 
			 2000-01 York 166,969 
			 2001-02 York 749,459 
			 2003-04 York 146,882 
			 2004-05 York 472,723 
			 2005-06 York 61,583 
			 2008-09 York 120,000 
			 2009-10 York 14,824 
			 2010-11 York 84,480 
			 2011-12 York 8,044 
			 Grand total  2,795,987 
		
	
	In addition, the Department allocated £30 million of private finance initiative (PFI) credits in 2005 to Leeds city council to provide two New Leaf Leisure Centres.

JUSTICE

Probation Trusts

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the future of probation trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the future of probation trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice is taking forward work on the future shape of probation services in England and Wales and considering different models for delivering offender services in the community. We will set out our preferred approach later in the autumn.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on the potential effects of implementation of the provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.

Jonathan Djanogly: Before the Bill was introduced on 21 June 2011 the Ministry of Justice conducted three wide-ranging public consultations, which received over 6,000 responses.
	During the Commons Committee stage of the Bill there were four public evidence sessions where the Bill Committee heard from various organisations such as the Bar Council, Law Society, the Victims Commissioner and prison and probation trade unions.

Civil Justice System

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to improve the civil justice system.

Kenneth Clarke: The Government will be publishing their response to the recent Civil Justice consultation paper: “Solving Disputes in the County Court”, later this year. In addition, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill includes provisions to implement fundamental reform of civil litigation funding and costs, as recommended by Lord Justice Jackson. We have also begun an extensive modernisation programme which will improve efficiency in the civil justice system.

Public Disorder: Response of the Criminal Justice System

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to assess the effectiveness of the response of the criminal justice system to the public disorder of August 2011.

Crispin Blunt: The criminal justice system, with its dedicated work force, responded well to the challenges caused by the recent disturbances. It is too early to learn all the lessons, but my Department intends to review all aspects of the CJS response, considering what it can learn both for future emergencies and for adopting as business as usual.

Civil Disorder

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many defendants were (a) charged and (b) found guilty of riot following the public disorder in August.

Crispin Blunt: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 8 September 2011, Official Report, column 809W.

Courts: Televisions

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely cost to the public purse of his proposals for further televising of aspects of the work of the judiciary; and from what budget such funding will be drawn.

Kenneth Clarke: Full costs have yet to be determined and will depend on operational details which I am working with the judiciary and others to agree. However, it is my intention to ensure that additional costs resulting from these proposals will not be met from the public purse.

Curfew Orders: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many curfew orders have been issued by courts in York since the introduction of such orders; and how many of those people have been proceeded against for breaching them.

Crispin Blunt: The following data submitted by the service provider G4S, shows the number of electronically-monitored curfews ordered by York Crown, magistrates and youth court, and Selby magistrates courts, in each financial year since 2005-06, and the number of breaches reported by G4S to the authorities in each period:
	The data for breaches shows the number of individuals whom G4S reported to the appropriate authority for further action. In the case of Bail, this is the Police. For Community Orders or Suspended Sentences it is the Youth Offending Team, Probation Offender Manager, or directly to the Court if the curfew is a standalone sentence. The final outcome of breach notifications is not routinely provided to the contractor, unless it is a standalone sentence. This information is not recorded centrally and would require a trawl of individual records
	of Probation Trusts, Youth Offending Teams and Police Areas at disproportionate cost. Breach data for the periods 2005-06 and 2006-07 is not available, and could only be retrieved with a manual trawl of records at disproportionate costs.
	
		
			 Bail 
			  Financial year 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12  (1) 
			 Orders 53 60 143 166 213 178 53 
			 Breaches reported n/a n/a 86 105 129 108 11 
		
	
	
		
			 Community Order/Suspended Sentence 
			  Financial year 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12  (1) 
			 Orders 77 118 225 318 403 345 123 
			 Breaches reported n/a n/a 90 147 215 203 49 
			 (1) To end August 2011.

Housing: Sales

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason sale prices of houses sold before 2000 are not made available online.

Edward Davey: I have been asked to reply.
	Before 1976 the price paid or value stated was entered on the register of title maintained by HM Land Registry. A change to the land registration rules made in 1976 removed the requirement to enter this information.
	On 1 April 2000, following a public consultation and a further change to the land registration rules, the requirement was restored. All applications received by the Land Registry since that date have resulted in the price paid being entered on the register where it is practicable to do so. No information was entered retrospectively.
	The register has been available online to the public since January 2005 allowing customers to search the register and download title registers, plans and deeds.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for which countries his Department has prepared country business plans in relation to human trafficking; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: I have been asked to reply.
	The Home Office is currently developing a list of priority countries in relation to human trafficking. As set out in the Government’s strategy on human trafficking, we will work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that the aims of the strategy are included in the Country Business Plans for each of these priority countries.

National Offender Management Service Young Adult Offender Project

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the National Offender Management Service Young Adult Offender Project report on (a) the Review of the Custodial Estate Provisions for Young Adult Offenders and (b) the Review of Community Provisions for Young Adult Offenders, completed in 2006;
	(2)  on what dates the Young Adult Offenders Project Board has met; and if he will place a copy of the minutes of each of those meetings in the Library;
	(3)  whether the National Offender Management Service Young Adult Offenders Project commissioned a detailed cost/benefit analysis in support of its proposals to deal with young adults in the prison estate; and if he will place a copy of any such assessment in the Library.

Crispin Blunt: The Young Adult Offender Project informed Ministers' policy on young adult offenders but did not give rise to a published report. I understand from officials that the reports and analysis you refer to remained as work in progress when the project was closed. Since the project did not produce papers for publication it would not be appropriate to place those papers and minutes of meetings in the Library.
	The project board met on 8 December 2005, 27 February, 27 March, 24 April, 5 June, 16 July, 4 September, 2 October, 5 November, 5 December 2006 and 20 March 2007.

Offenders: Ex-servicemen

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the number of former armed service personnel who were subjects of a court report in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the number of former armed service personnel remanded in custody in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Jonathan Djanogly: In September 2010, the MOJ and Ministry of Defence published the results of a joint study to estimate how many prisoners in England and Wales had been in the regular armed forces. The report, based on the prison population as at 6 November 2009, showed that 3.5% (2,820) of prisoners had served in the regular armed forces, and of these, 11.3% were on remand. This report may be found in the House of Commons Libraries and at the following web link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=66&pubType=3
	Information on the number of court reports prepared specifically for former armed service personnel is not held centrally by the Department.

Probation

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the size was of the probation caseload in England and Wales on 31 March 2011.

Crispin Blunt: The total number of offenders supervised by the probation service on 31 March 2001 was 236,543. This figure is published quarterly on the Ministry of Justice website.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Sentencing: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people received a custodial sentence at York (a) magistrates court and (b) Crown court in (i) 1997 and (ii) each subsequent year.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons sentenced to immediate custody at York local justice area and Crown court, for all offences from 1997 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in the spring, 2012.
	
		
			 Number of persons sentenced to immediate custody at York local justice area and Crown court, for all offences from 1997 to 2010  (1,2) 
			 Court type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 York local justice area(3) 108 161 227 239 202 139 196 228 200 118 119 164 206 209 
			 York Crown court 282 359 376 397 448 407 360 415 448 417 387 351 440 372 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) May include more than one magistrates court. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Travellers: Legal Aid Scheme

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has provided in legal aid to Travellers at the Dale Farm site in Essex in each of the last three years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The information is not readily available, I will write to my hon. Friend.

EDUCATION

Academies

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools had converted to academies as at 31 July 2011; and how many applications for conversion to an academy are outstanding.

Nick Gibb: As at 31 July 2011 there were 529 schools that had converted to academies. This was made up of (a) 124 primary schools and (b) 405 secondary schools (including 12 middle deemed secondary schools).
	As at 1 September, 981 schools had converted to academies, leaving 502 applications to convert to an academy outstanding. A full list of these schools and their progress towards conversion is available on the Department for Education website:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies/a0069811/map-of-open-academies-and-schools-submitting-applications

Academies: Cumbria

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Cumbria had become academies by September 2011.

Nick Gibb: To date, two primary schools and twelve secondary schools have opened as academies in Cumbria. These are Seaton Infant School (opened September 2010), Eaglesfield Paddle C of E VA Primary School (June 2011), Queen Elizabeth School, (January 2011), Kirkbie Kendal School (April 2011), The Queen Katherine School (April 2011), Queen Elizabeth Grammar (May 2011), Appleby Grammar (August 2011), Kirkby Stephen Grammar (August 2011), Settlebeck High School (August 2011), William Howard School (August 2011), Caldew School (August 2011), Dallam School (August 2011), Cartmel Priory (September 2011) and Trinity School (September 2011).
	There are four sponsored academies open in Cumbria: Richard Rose Central Academy (September 2008), Richard Rose Morton Academy (2008), West Lakes Academy (September 2008) and Furness Academy (September 2009).

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities fulfil their duties under section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006 in respect of the provision of childcare for disabled children.

Sarah Teather: Local authorities have a duty (under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006) to ensure that there is sufficient childcare locally to meet the needs of working parents and particularly families with disabled children. We want to improve the way in which local authorities keep parents informed about what they are doing to deliver this duty. The Government announced in the “Families in the Foundation Years” statement, published in July 2011,
	http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/early
	the intention to bring forward proposals that local authorities should report annually on their Section 6 sufficiency duty, and in particular how they are supporting families of children with disabilities to access childcare.
	Local authorities have told us that the requirement (under Section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006) to publish nationally prescribed sufficiency assessments every three years is burdensome. The Government considers that a local annual report would be a more effective way of enabling parents to hold their local authority to account. The Government have therefore also decided to consult on bringing forward legislation to repeal the Section 11 duty. This consultation will be published on the Department for Education's website later in the autumn.

English Baccalaureate

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent representations he has received from religious groups on the English Baccalaureate.

Nick Gibb: The Department has received 2,809 pieces of correspondence about religious education and the English Baccalaureate. Due to the high volume it is not practical to place copies in the House Libraries but the key points made are covered in the records of the Westminster Hall Debate on 17 May and in evidence given by Religious Education organisations to the Education Select Committee.

English Baccalaureate

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether (a) Punjabi, (b) Urdu, (c) Arabic, (d) Bengali, (e) Gujarati and (f) Hindu will be included in the English Baccalaureate.

Nick Gibb: The English Baccalaureate is designed to recognise the success of those pupils who attain GCSEs or established iGCSEs at grade A*-C across a core of academic subjects: English, maths, the sciences, a language and either history or geography. The Department for Education has published a detailed list of the GCSEs that count towards English Baccalaureate. This can be viewed at:
	www.education.gov.uk/performancetables
	The list includes qualifications in Panjabi, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali and Gujarati. It does not include qualifications in Hindi. This is because language qualifications which are counted towards the English Baccalaureate must have a speaking element and there are currently no Hindi GCSE qualifications which meet this requirement.

Further Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2011, Official Report, column 552W, on further education, if he will publish a list of applications received by his Department to open (a) free schools for 16 to 19 year olds and (b) university technical colleges in September 2012.

Nick Gibb: The Department is still in the process of assessing the applications it has received to establish Free Schools and University Technical Colleges in 2012. As stated on 18 July, these include proposals for four 16-19 Free Schools and 19 UTCs. An announcement will be made around the end of September about those that are approved to move to the next stage of development.

Neil Wallis

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what communications (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department, (c) officials in his private office and (d) (i) press officers, (ii) other officials and (iii) special advisers of his Department have had by (A) e-mail, (B) meeting, (C) telephone call and (D) letter with Neil Wallis since his appointment; and on what dates.

Tim Loughton: A check of communications showed no record of contact between the Secretary of State for Education, other Ministers in his Department, officials in his private office, press officers, and special advisors with Neil Wallis since his appointment. The Department publishes quarterly Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external organisations on the website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/transparency
	A list of officials meetings is not maintained centrally and to collect such information would incur disproportionate cost.

Physics: GCE A Level

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that errors contained in the OCR Physics A Level examination are taken into account by admissions tutors.

Nick Gibb: On 4 August the independent exams regulator Ofqual published a statement to reassure students and their parents about remedial work which has been undertaken by awarding organisations to address exam errors. Ofqual are satisfied that awarding organisations have taken all possible steps to ensure that no student has been unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged as a result of exam errors.
	University and other higher education institution admissions tutors have been provided (via UCAS) with detailed information about the measures taken in cases involving AS and A2 papers (including those from OCR) to make sure they have been fully informed.
	Ofqual have additionally been in contact with UCAS and Universities UK to ensure that useful information about the nature of errors and steps to redress has been shared, enabling these bodies to be prepared for enquiries and to assist students where necessary.
	Ofqual are now conducting an inquiry into these exam errors, working in partnership with their fellow regulators in Northern Ireland and Wales. The regulators intend to complete their inquiry and publish a report by the end of the year, in time to inform actions to secure the quality of exams being taken in 2012.

Schools: Pay

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the payment of a pay award of £250 in 2011-12 to all (a) classroom assistants and (b) other school employees earning less than £21,000 per annum.

Nick Gibb: Central Government does not have a role in deciding the pay and conditions of school support staff. Pay and conditions for this group, which includes teaching assistants, are decided by their employers.
	The employer of support staff in foundation and voluntary aided schools is the school's governing body. The employer of support staff in community and voluntary controlled schools is the local authority. The employer of support staff in academies and free schools is the appropriate trust.
	During the two-year pay freeze which for teachers in maintained schools started on 1 September 2011, unqualified teachers who earn a full-time salary of £21,000 or less, will receive a £250 payment in each of these years in line with the recommendation made by the independent School Teachers' Review Body.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities work with other organisations, including voluntary organisations, to develop an independent special educational needs assessment process.

Sarah Teather: The reforms to the special educational needs system in England will be tested in pathfinder areas. It is a stated condition of the pathfinder ‘Invitation to Tender’ document that pathfinders should work with voluntary organisations to test ways of improving the system.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice will include guidance on timescales and processes, including communications between different agencies;
	(2)  whether the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice will require a named and trained senior person in each school to be responsible for SEN;
	(3)  whether the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice will include a child's right to an identified teacher with relevant training in each school who is responsible for coordinating SEN provision;
	(4)  whether the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice will provide rights to children without education, health and care plans or statements but who still have special educational needs;
	(5)  whether the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice will include regular objective setting for individual pupils;
	(6)  whether the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice will have enforceable lines of accountability between (a) schools, (b) local authorities and (c) other agencies involved in providing support;
	(7)  whether the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice will specify a complaints and appeals process for parents and young people with special educational needs;

Sarah Teather: The current Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice sets out the duties, rights and entitlements associated with the SEN framework in England. When changes to that framework, following the SEN and disability Green Paper, are being made a revised SEN Code of Practice will consulted on and laid before the House for approval.
	The revised Code will set out the timescales and processes which attach to the proposed single assessment process and Education, Health and Care Plan and the more multi-agency approach which will be inherent in these new features of the framework. It will set out schools' continuing duty to appoint a qualified teacher as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator, to whom children with SEN can have access. It will remind schools of their duty to do their best to make special educational provision for all children with learning difficulties, including those children identified with SEN but whose needs do not exceed what is normally available in schools and may not therefore have an Education, Health and Care Plan. It will also give advice to schools on identifying children with SEN and the approaches they can use to set targets for children and review progress without increasing bureaucratic burdens.
	The revised Code will set out the expectations of all parties to an Education, Health and Care Plan and the arrangements for accountability, with the local authority having a duty to make the special educational provision. The new plans will provide the same statutory protection to parents as SEN statements including the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) about local authority decisions in relation to SEN and provision to meet children's SEN. This will be reflected in a revised Code. The Green Paper gave a commitment that the Department will run pilots on giving children the right to appeal to the Tribunal.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure that his proposals for special educational needs assessments do not exclude relevant professionals from the assessment process.

Sarah Teather: The proposals for special educational needs assessments in England are being tested in pathfinder areas. One of the things pathfinders have been asked to test is which professionals should be involved in the assessment process. Pathfinders will begin testing in September 2011.

Teachers: Manpower

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers were employed in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) nationwide in each year since 1997.

Nick Gibb: The following table gives the full-time equivalent number of regular teachers employed in local authority maintained schools in Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside local authority, the north-east and England in each year from 1997 to 2010.
	Further school work force statistics are available from the November 2010 School Workforce Statistical First Release which is available at the following web link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000997/index.shtml
	
		
			 Full-time equivalent teachers in local authority maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools. Years: 1997-2010. Coverage: Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside local authority, the north-east Government office region and England 
			  Jarrow constituency South Tyneside local authority North-east Government office region England 
			  Nursery and primary schools Secondary schools Nursery and primary schools Secondary schools Nursery and primary schools Secondary schools Nursery and primary schools Secondary schools 
			 January         
			 1997 360 300 700 590 10,400 10,790 191,670 189,430 
			 1998 350 300 690 580 10,280 10,650 190,100 189.5B0 
			 1999 350 310 690 610 10,310 10,640 191,120 191,780 
			 2000 350 320 640 590 10,190 10,740 193,100 193,200 
			 2001 360 340 680 650 10,350 11,070 194,960 196,680 
			 2002 340 360 660 700 10,440 11,380 197,370 203,170 
			 2003 330 350 630 690 10,210 11,340 197,430 206,670 
			 2004 320 350 630 680 10,170 11,270 196,640 211,000 
			 2005 310 350 610 670 10,050 11,430 196,270 215,060 
			 2006 310 360 590 720 10,070 11,440 193,190 216,290 
			 2007 300 360 580 680 10,020 11,450 197,100 216,850 
			 2008 300 360 570 690 9,920 11,450 198,090 215,270 
			 2009 300 340 590 670 9,840 11,150 198,540 212,580 
			 2010 310 390 530 680 9,810 10,920 200,860 210,260 
			          
			 November         
			 2010 340 340 550 640 9,790 9,910 195,740 192,980 
			 Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Sources: School Census, (parliamentary constituency figures). Form 618g Survey and School Workforce Census , (November 2010)

Teaching Assistants: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teaching assistants were employed in maintained schools in Warrington borough (a) in May 2010 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The information requested was collected in January and November 2010. The full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in maintained schools in Warrington local authority in January 2010 was 860. In November 2010 there were 780 teaching assistants employed in Warrington local authority.
	The January 2010 figure was collected through the School Census. The School Workforce Census (SWF) was run, in its complete form, for the first time in autumn 2010 and is the source for the November figure. Although the SWF was designed to provide figures that are comparable with those from the earlier survey data providers may not have categorised staff roles in the same way and therefore the two figures provided may not be equivalent.
	Further school work force statistics are available from the November 2010 School Workforce Statistical First Release which is available at the following web link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000997/index.shtml

HEALTH

Alzheimer’s Disease: Newham

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in Newham in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010.

Paul Burstow: The information requested is not centrally held. However, the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) records the number of patients registered with practices in England who have had a diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This information is available by financial year only and is presented in the following table for Newham Primary Care Trust.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of patients on QOF dementia register in Newham Primary Care Trust 
			 2007-08 690 
			 2008-09 725 
			 2009-10 808 
			 Source: Quality and Outcomes Framework 
		
	
	The hon. Member may wish to contact Newham Primary Care Trust for more specific information.

Ambulance Services: Manpower

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information data his Department holds on the number of ambulance staff in band (a) 4, (b) 5, (c) 6 and (d) 7 employed in (i) 2007, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2011.

Simon Burns: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people who participated in the bowel cancer screening programme (a) in Bolton and (b) nationally in the latest period for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: Roll-out of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme began in April 2006 and full roll-out was completed in August 2010. The programme currently invites men and women aged 60-69 to participate in screening every two years and it is in the process of being extended to invite men and women up to their 75th birthday.
	As of July this year 10,071,589 people had been invited and 5,528,266 had been adequately screened (54.89%). Adequately screened means the return of a testing kit that produces a definitive test result. It should be noted that these figures include people who have been invited by the programme for screening more than once on separate screening rounds.
	Figures for the Bolton screening centre over the same period show that 208,328 people had been invited and 105,396 people had been adequately screened (50.59%).

Cancer: Drugs

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have accessed drugs through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Simon Burns: The Cancer Drugs Fund was launched on 1 April 2011. Over three years, the Fund is providing £200 million a year to help thousands of cancer patients access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them. As an interim measure, an additional £50 million was made available to strategic health authorities in 2010-11 to support improved access to cancer drugs. The funding we have made available since October 2010 has so far helped over 5,000 cancer patients in England to access the cancer drugs their clinicians recommended.

Community Nurses

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future of the district nurse service.

Anne Milton: District nurses deliver safe high quality care in the community both to patients currently receiving care in hospitals and to the growing numbers of older people with multiple health and care needs. It is for local commissioners and providers to ensure they have work force to meet these changing health care needs.

Departmental Private Finance Initiative

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the value of estimated tax receipts, calculated in accordance with the Green Book, in each public sector economic assessment of private finance initiative projects in procurement by his Department as of March 2011.

Simon Burns: Two NHS trusts—Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospitals NHS Trust—were in the procurement phase of the private finance initiative (PFI) process in March 2011. Both schemes followed the Green Book guidance and the percentage by which the public sector comparator was uplifted in the economic analysis to reflect the additional tax take that accrues to the Government from the private finance option was 6% in both cases.
	This economic analysis was done for the Outline Business Cases (OBCs) at the pre-market appraisal stage and therefore is not used to assess tax takes from specific providers after contracts have been signed.
	Two NHS foundation trusts—Papworth Hospitals NHS Foundation NHS Trust and Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust—exercised their powers as foundation trusts to take forward PFI schemes which were also in the procurement phase in March 2011. The OBCs for these schemes were not reviewed for approval purposes by the Department prior to March 2011. The information requested is therefore a matter for Papworth Hospitals NHS Foundation NHS Trust and Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust. We have written to the respective chairs of these two trusts, Robert Burgin at Papworth and Sir David Henshaw at Alder Hey, informing them of the hon. Member's inquiry. They will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Simon Burns: The Department received 1,322 written questions due for answer on a named day between 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011. Of those, nine questions, or 1%, were not answered substantively on the day named for answer.
	Between 9 March and 19 July 2011, the Department received 523 written questions due for answer on a named day. Of those, one question, or 0.2%, was not answered substantively on the day named for answer.

Euthanasia

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers of his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with the Dementia Champion on assisted suicide; what his policy is on assisted suicide; and if he will make a statement; [R]
	(2)  what recent representations he has received on the recent statements by his Department's Dementia Champion on assisted dying; what response he gave to the representations; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Paul Burstow: The comments attributed to Martin Green were made in his capacity as the chief executive of the English Community Care Association, and not in his role as the Dementia Champion for the independent sector, and do not reflect the Government's position.
	The Government believe that any changes to the law, in this emotive and contentious area is an issue of individual conscience and a matter for Parliament to decide rather than Government policy. Assisted dying remains unlawful in the United Kingdom. This is the position that Ministers have set out in response to any inquiries on this matter.
	Neither Ministers nor officials from the Department have had any discussions with Mr Green about assisted suicide. A departmental official spoke to Mr Green to confirm that his comments were made in his role as chief executive of the English Community Care Association and not in his capacity as Dementia Champion. Ministers have not met with, or discussed this matter with, Mr Green.

General Practitioners: Pensions

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the sums accruing to the Exchequer in respect of GP pensions in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will reconsider the proposed reform of GP pensions.

Simon Burns: General practitioners (GPs) have access to the NHS pension scheme. The following table provided by the NHS Pensions Agency illustrates the sum of contributions paid by GPs between 2009 and 2011.
	
		
			 GP contributions to the NHS pension scheme 
			 £000 
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 Employer contributions 463,000 470,754 
			 Employee contributions 365,858 317,225 
			 Total contributions 829,426 787,979 
			 Source: The NHS pension scheme and NHS compensation for retirement scheme resource accounts 
		
	
	Contributions made by and on behalf of GPs are to pay for pension promises being built up and are assessed by the scheme actuary using SCAPE methodology (Superannuation Contributions Adjusted for Past Experience).
	The amount paid out by the NHS Pensions Agency in respect of former GP members in receipt of pensions is not available separately.
	In March 2011, the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission chaired by Lord Hutton concluded that given increased longevity and changes in working patterns, current arrangements for public sector pensions are unfair and unsustainable and that reform is needed.

Methadone: Wirral

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people living in the Wirral have been using methadone for (a) up to one year, (b) up to two years, (c) up to five years and (d) 10 years or more.

Anne Milton: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Data on the number of people receiving a prescribing intervention for their opioid dependency in the Wirral in 2009-10 and showing how long they have been continuously receiving substitute prescribing is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Length of stay in prescribing Number 
			 Less than 12 months 454 
			 1-2 years 256 
			 2-3 years 170 
			 3-4 years 114 
			 4 years + 967 
			 Total in prescribing 1,961 
			 Notes: 1. The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) collects information on the number of people receiving substitute prescribing interventions for substance misuse in England, but does not distinguish between methadone and other drugs such as buprenorphine which are also recommended for the treatment of drug misuse by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). 2. The National Treatment Agency took over full responsibility for managing NDTMS in 2004-05. Only the annual data from 2005-06 onwards are considered robust enough to provide detailed information about individual treatment journeys. This means that 2009-10 was the first year that robust data for those in treatment for four years or more are available. 
		
	
	NICE recommends that substitute prescribing should always be accompanied by psychosocial interventions. In addition “Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management” (2007), a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, states that any decision to maintain a patient on long-term prescribing should be an active one agreed between the clinician and patient, reviewed at regular intervals, and part of a broader programme of care-planned social and psychological support.

Tomography: Waiting Lists

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people waited more than six weeks for (a) MRI and (b) CT scans in (i) Bolton and (ii) England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: Latest figures (31 July 2011) for the numbers of people waiting more than six weeks for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans in Bolton and England are provided as follows.
	
		
			 Waiting times for MRI and CT scans in Bolton primary care trust (PCT) (Commissioner level data) on 31 July 2011 
			 Name Diagnostic   test name Total   waiting list Number waiting 6+   w  eeks 
			 Bolton PCT MRI 431 9 
			 Bolton PCT CT 233 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Waiting times for MRI and CT scans in England (Commissioner level data) on 31 July 2011 
			 Diagnostic   test name Total   waits list Number waiting 6+ weeks 
			 MRI 107,329 804 
			 CT 65,191 691

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi

Gordon Banks: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he has had any discussions with (a) the First Minister of Scotland and (b) other Ministers in the Scottish Government on the possible return to the UK of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi since 1 February 2011.

Nicholas Clegg: I have not had any such discussions with the First Minister of Scotland or any other Ministers in the Scottish Government. The possible return to the UK of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is a matter for the Scottish Government, not the UK Government.

Departmental Responsibilities

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what dates he stood in for the Prime Minister between 24 December 2010 and 6 January 2011.

Nicholas Clegg: The Prime Minister remains the head of the Government including when he is on holiday or away from London, whether for Government business or not. When away from the office, he has Downing street staff with him and he is in regular contact with staff and senior ministerial colleagues in London. Over the holiday periods, I and other senior Ministers are on hand to deal with urgent issues arising in London.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Nicholas Clegg: The figures are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Dates Number of named day questions tabled Number of questions answered substantively on the specified date 
			 9 March to 19 July 2011 30 24 
			 27 May 2010 to 19 July 2011 116 83

CABINET OFFICE

Cross-Departmental Working

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent steps he has taken to promote effective cross-departmental working.

Francis Maude: Departments are responsible for spending money wisely and for delivering excellent public services, and they are already delivering substantial reform programmes within their delivery chains. However, in many areas departments are unable to secure maximum value for money, and unable to reform services in the most effective manner by working in isolation.
	The Cabinet Office provides a cross-Government centre of expertise through the Efficiency and Reform Group, which was setup to work across departmental boundaries where this is the best way to tackle waste, improve efficiency and reform the way services are delivered.
	A recent example is the £360 million saved across departments by centralising spend on common goods and services. We have also established Crown Commercial Representatives, who saved over £800 million last year by renegotiating deals with some of our largest suppliers on a cross-Government basis. We are also promoting centres of excellence in departments where others are best placed to lead for the Crown. This includes the Next Generation HR shared service which DWP are delivering, and the Government's ICT strategy where elements of the implementation programme are being led by different departments.

Drugs: Misuse

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deaths related to drug poisoning or misuse there were in each year since 2000; and how many were incurred by offenders who had been released within two weeks from prison

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths related to drug poisoning or misuse there were in each year since 2000; and how many were incurred by offenders who had been released within two weeks from prison. (71718)
	The table provides the number of deaths where (i) the underlying cause was drug poisoning and (ii) the underlying cause was drug poisoning and any drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death certificate, in England and Wales, for 2000 to 2010 (the latest year available).
	It is not possible to determine from information collected at death registration whether the deceased was an offender who had recently been released from prison, since this information is not routinely recorded.
	The number of deaths related to drug poisoning registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age, cause and the specific substance involved are published annually on the National Statistics website. The latest Statistical Bulletin on deaths from drug-related poisoning was published on 23 August 2011 at:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health3/deaths-related-to-drug-poisoning/2010/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths from drug-related poisoning and drug misuse, England and Wales, 2000-10  (1, 2, 3) 
			 Deaths (persons) 
			  All drug poisonings Drug misuse 
			 2000 2,932 1,604 
			 2001 3,093 1,808 
			 2002 2,830 1,613 
			 2003 2,623 1,432 
			 2004 2,787 1,497 
			 2005 2,762 1,608 
			 2006 2,570 1,560 
			 2007 2,640 1,727 
			 2008 2,928 1,939 
			 2009 2,878 1,876 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 2,747 1,784 
			 (1) Cause of death for was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth revision (ICD-9) for the year 2000 and Tenth Revision (ICD 10) from 2001 onwards. The ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for drug poisoning are shown in Box 1 as follows. Figures for drug misuse include all drug poisoning deaths where a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death certificate. (2) Deaths in England and Wales include non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 
		
	
	
		
			 Box 1. ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for deaths related to drug poisoning 
			 Description ICD 10 Codes ICD 9 Codes 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) F11-F16, F18-F19 292, 304, 305.2-305.9 
			 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X40-X44 E850-E858 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X60-X64 E950.0-E950.5 
			 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances X85 E962.0 
			 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent Y10-Y14 E980.0-E980.5

Ex-servicemen: Medals

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals held meetings to discuss the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal; what the cost of each such meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals discussed the Pingat Jasa Malaysia Medal at its meeting on 7 December 2005. There were no direct costs associated with this meeting.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulated procedures conducted in Scotland under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involved (a) cats, (b) dogs, (c) rabbits, (d) horses and other equids, (e) new world primates and (f) old world primates in 2010; and how many such procedures involved (i) genetically-modified animals and (ii) animals with a harmful genetic defect.

Lynne Featherstone: During 2010, in Scotland, there were four procedures using cats, 720 procedures using dogs, 3,826 procedures using rabbits, 2,380 procedures using horses and other equids, 47 procedures using new world primates and 885 procedures using old world primates used in regulated procedures started under the 1986 Act. None of these procedures involved (i) genetically modified animals and (ii) animals with a harmful genetic defect.

Antisocial Behaviour

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to the police in (a) South Tyneside, (b) the North East and (c) England and Wales in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11.

James Brokenshire: The number of antisocial behaviour incidents recorded by the police in each of the specified areas are provided in the table. These figures relate to the police record of antisocial behaviour incidents; that is, the number of “calls to service” received by them.
	
		
			 Anti  social behaviour incidents recorded by the police (non-National Statistics)  (1) 
			 Number 
			  2009-10  (2) 2010-11  (3) 
			 South Tyneside 12,222 11,886 
			 North East Region 249,744 229,448 
			 England and Wales 3,532,297 3,235,977 
			 (1) All police forces currently use the National Standard for Incident Recording (NSIR) to record incidents which are reported to them. While incidents are recorded under NSIR in accordance with the same 'victim focused' approach that applies for recorded crime, these figures are not accredited National Statistics and are not subject to the same level of quality assurance as the main recorded crime collection. (2) Management information on ASB incidents were collected by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. (3) Management information on ASB incidents were collected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) in 2010-11.

Asylum: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants she estimates are living in York.

Damian Green: The number of asylum applicants with a last known address with a 'YO' postcode listed is 62. This figure relates to main applicants with first time asylum claims that have yet to be concluded. All applications were made on or after 21 June 2005.
	As cases are decided or applicants inform UK Border Agency of a change of address the number of applicants in York will change.
	All figures quoted are internal management information only and are subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Burglary

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of domestic burglary were reported in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997.

James Brokenshire: Data are not centrally available for Jarrow.
	The Home Office collects data on the numbers of offences recorded by the police. Data are provided in the following tables for cases of domestic burglary in South Tyneside, the North East and for England and Wales.
	
		
			 Table 1:   B  urglary in a dwelling offences recorded by the police in 1997 
			 Area 1997 
			 Jarrow Constituency (1)— 
			 South Tyneside CDRP/CSP (1)— 
			 North East Region 31,310 
			 England and Wales 519,265 
			 (1) Data not centrally available. Notes: 1. These data are not comparable with those for later years due to the counting rules and offence coverage in use at the time. 2. Prior to 2009-10, Community Safety Partnerships {CSPs) were referred to as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Burglary in a dwelling offences recorded by the police from 1998-99 to 2001-02 
			 Area 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 
			 Jarrow Constituency (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 South Tyneside CDRP/CSP (1)— 1,351 1,337 1,115 
			 North East Region 28.806 24,300 21,720 23,614 
		
	
	
		
			 England and Wales 473,349 442,602 402,984 430,347 
			 (1) Data not centrally available. Notes: 1. These data are not comparable with those before or after this period due to the counting rules and extended offence coverage in use at the time. 2. Prior to 2009-10, Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) were referred to as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Burglary in a dwelling offences recorded by the police from 2002-03 to 2010-11 
			 Area 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Jarrow Constituency (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 South Tyneside CDRP/CSP 1,169 1,036 792 647 606 489 424 306 235 
			 North East Region 21,583 19,550 14,934 13,095 12,303 10,881 10,408 8,597 7,618 
			 England and Wales (inc. BTP) 437,583 402,345 321,507 300,517 292,260 280.696 284,431 268,610 258,148 
			 (1) Data not centrally available. Notes: 1. These data are not comparable with previous years data to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) across all forces in April 2002. 2. Prior to 2009-10, Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) were referred to as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships {CDRPs).

Cannabis: Crime

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police raids on properties in (a) Berkshire, (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituency resulted in the discovery of cannabis farms in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The information requested on the number of cannabis farms discovered in the areas concerned is not held centrally.
	Figures are available by police area, which in this case is Thames Valley Police. The most recent figures published in the UK National Problem Profile, Commercial Cultivation of Cannabis, July 2010, the Association of Chief Police Officers found there to be 172 cannabis farms in the Thames Valley Police area representing eight farms per 100,000 population.

Civil Disorder

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral statement of 11 August 2011, on public disorder, Official Report, columns 1051-1105, what her latest estimate is of the likely cost of insurance payments to policyholders who suffered losses in the August 2011 disturbances; and if she will estimate the total cost to the public purse of the disturbances including a breakdown of expenditure for each purpose.

Nick Herbert: There is, as yet, no estimate for the total cost of insurance payments or cost to the public purse resulting from the disorder in August 2011. Discussions are ongoing between the Home Office, HM Treasury, police authorities and the Claims Bureau to assess the financial impact of the recent disorder.

Civil Disorder

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid to each individual for claims submitted under the Riot (Damages Act) 1886 in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: Claims for compensation under the Riot (Damages) Act 1996 are made directly to the police authorities, which take the final decision as to whether a payment is made, and the size of that payment. These data are not held centrally.

Civil Disorder

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested in England and Wales in connection with public disorder in August 2011.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested in England and Wales following the public disorder in August 2011.

Nick Herbert: The Ministry of Justice is currently publishing frequent updates on people arrested who were dealt with by the court system in relation to the disturbances on 6-9 August. These reports can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/ad-hoc/index.htm
	As the publication notes the Ministry of Justice chief statistician will review the quality of data and release further breakdowns as reliable data become available. It is intended to release further data on 13 September. A more detailed release will be published on 15 September containing detailed information on age, gender, offence committed, sentence given, and previous criminal history.

Civil Disorder

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to bring forward proposals to amend or repeal the Riot (Damages) Act 1886.

Nick Herbert: We are in the process of reviewing the Riot Damages Act and are considering all options for reform. However, the legislation still remains in place and claims for compensation following the recent disorder can still be made from businesses and households to police authorities.

Civil Disorder

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many businesses (a) in Birmingham and (b) elsewhere in England have sought to claim damages under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 since August 2011.

Nick Herbert: It is not yet possible to provide information on the number of claims received for businesses as the data are still being received and collated locally. Claims for compensation under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 are made to the local police authority, who assess claims made to them and take the final decision as to whether a payment is made, and the size of that payment. The Home Office is supporting police authorities to enable these claims to be processed quickly.

Confiscation Orders

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were removed at the request of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in each year since 2006.

Damian Green: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) routinely monitors any case of interest to them where a Judge recommends a deportation at end of sentence, or where an individual will automatically be considered for deportation by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) by virtue of their length of sentence.
	SOCA notifies the UKBA of convicted cases where they have an interest, but this does not signify a request to remove.
	In addition to those cases where convictions have been obtained SOCA has referred to UKBA 14 individuals of interest to establish if an immigration solution can be presented as a means of disrupting organised criminal activity.
	Principally through removal of the individual from the United Kingdom. Of those 14 cases three individuals were identified as having left the UK; and two were reviewed but are not removable currently, nine are being monitored and if appropriate will be considered for removal action.

Confiscation Orders

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the monetary value was of criminal assets recovered by the Serious Organised Crime Agency through the use of (a) its taxation powers, (b) civil recovery, (c) criminal confiscation and (d) cash forfeiture in each year since 2006.

Nick Herbert: Since 2006 the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has recovered criminal assets with the following monetary value:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Civil recovery and tax receipts  (1) Confiscation orders enforced Cash forfeiture 
			 2006-07 n/a 4.3 2.3 
			 2007-08 n/a 8.0 2.9 
			 2008-09 16.7 7.0 4.5 
			 2009-10 6.8 7.4 10.2 
			 2010-11 8.0 7.6 4.7 
			 (1) SOCA did not have civil recovery and tax powers prior to April 2008. 
		
	
	Civil recovery and tax receipts are shown as a combined figure because in a number of cases a single settlement figure is agreed.

Crime

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of (a) crime related to vehicles, (b) burglary of a dwelling, (c) other burglary, (d) criminal damage, (e) theft, (f) violence and (g) other crimes were committed in (i) Coventry and (ii) Warwickshire in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The available information relates to offences recorded by the police and is given in the following tables:
	
		
			 Table 1: Offences recorded by the police in Coventry 
			 Offence 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Offences against vehicles 5,828 3,862 3,887 3,458 3,929 
			 Burglary in a dwelling 2,431 2,152 2,164 2,195 2,715 
			 Burglary in other building 2,218 1,917 1,623 1,782 1,744 
			 Criminal damage 8,120 6,600 5,976 5,723 5,221 
			 Other theft offences(1) 6,562 5,758 5,467 5,446 5,860 
			 Violence against the person 7,592 7,229 6,631 6,552 5,153 
			 Other crimes 4,210 3,499 3,364 3,322 3,159 
			 Total 36,961 31,017 29,112 28,478 27,781 
			 (1) Excluding offences against vehicles. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Offences recorded by the police in Warwickshire 
			 Offence 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Offences against vehicles 7,649 5,790 5,769 4,740 4,268 
			 Burglary in a dwelling 2,844 2,373 2,216 2,261 2,014 
			 Burglary in other building 3,601 3,173 3,428 3,262 3,305 
			 Criminal damage 10,267 9,234 8,006 6,458 6,016 
			 Other theft offences(1) 8,686 7,818 8,251 7,860 8,075 
			 Violence against the person 7,386 7,526 5,957 5,302 5,369 
			 Other crimes 4,824 4,054 3,741 3,945 3,780 
			 Total 45,257 39,968 37,368 33,828 32,827 
			 (1) Excluding offences against vehicles.

Crime Prevention

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the introduction of gang injunctions.

James Brokenshire: The Government introduced gang injunctions for adults in January 2011. As we announced last month we will make them available for 14 to 17 year olds by the end of the year.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of written questions tabled to her for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Damian Green: From 27 May 2010 until 19 July 2011, the Home Office gave a substantive answer to 425 out of 1,241 (34.2%) questions on the day named for answer. From 9 March 2011 until 19 July 2011, the Home Office gave a substantive answer to 154 out of 449 (34.3%) questions on the day named for answer.
	The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the Session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary Session were previously provided to the committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Deportation: Offenders

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Sufi and Elmi v. the United Kingdom, what steps she plans to take to protect the public from foreign offenders living in the UK who cannot be deported.

Damian Green: During their custodial sentence foreign national prisoners are managed in the same way as other prisoners. They are referred to the UK Border Agency by the National Offender Management Service to establish their immigration status near to the start of their sentence.
	The UK Border Agency seeks to deport from the UK foreign national offenders who meet the following criteria:
	A court recommendation.
	For non-EEA nationals—a custodial sentence of 12 months or more either in one sentence or as an aggregate of two or three sentences over a period of five years, or a custodial sentence of any length for a drug offence (other than possession).
	For EEA nationals—a custodial sentence of 12 months or more for an offence involving drugs, violent or sexual crimes or a custodial sentence of 24 months or more for other offences.
	Deportation is pursued where possible.
	Where deportation is pursued, but delayed due to documentation and other issues, at the end of an individual's custodial sentence the UK Border Agency will decide if detention under immigration powers is appropriate. Every detention decision is made on a case by case basis. The criminal history is considered in terms of the potential risk of harm to the public if a foreign criminal is released. Those who are detained have always been able to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail. Where the UK Border Agency believe there is a risk to the public we will vigorously oppose bail applications or ask the court to impose reporting and electronic tagging restrictions if bail is granted.
	In terms of managing the risk of reoffending in the community foreign offenders are treated in the same way as British offenders.
	Foreign offenders who are eligible for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), by the nature of the offence they have committed and sentence received, are managed in the same way as British MAPPA eligible offenders. All MAPPA eligible offenders are identified following sentence. Information is shared with relevant agencies and a risk assessment conducted to ensure an appropriate risk management plan is in place for the offenders management in the community.

Detention Centres: Death

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what investigations she has undertaken into deaths in immigration detention which occurred during August 2011; and if she will publish the findings of any such investigation;
	(2)  what deaths occurred in immigration detention in each month of each of the last five years.

Damian Green: holding answer 8 September 2011
	The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) is currently investigating a death that occurred in immigration detention in August 2011. Upon completion the findings of the investigation will be published on the PPO website.
	The police are informed of any deaths that occur of individuals detained in, or travelling to or from, an immigration removal centre in the care of UK Border Agency staff or its contractors. They take a decision independent of the UK Border Agency as to whether or not a police investigation is appropriate. All deaths are also referred to the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman who conduct a separate investigation in to the circumstances of the death.
	Following the conclusion of the investigation, the office of the PPO publishes an anonymised report on its website.
	Five deaths have occurred in the last five years of individuals detained in, or travelling to or from, an immigration removal centre as follows:
	April 2010
	October 2010
	July 2011—two unrelated incidents
	August 2011.
	It would be inappropriate to comment on the details of these deaths whilst they are the subject of ongoing investigations by the PPO. When concluded, the Ombudsman's report of his investigation is published on the PPO website.

Domestic Violence

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance her Department provides to victims of domestic violence who flee their homes.

Lynne Featherstone: For the next four years the Home Office has committed over £28 million of funding for specialist services to tackle violence against women and girls.
	For domestic violence this includes:
	national helplines including the National Domestic Violence helpline, Respect, the Men's Advice Line and Broken Rainbow;
	support for Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) nationally;
	investment in the training and quality assurance process for MARACs and IDVAs; and
	a contribution to the running costs of the joint Home Office/Foreign Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit.
	Decisions around the provision of accommodation and services for victims of domestic abuse are a local matter and it is the responsibility of the individual local authority to identify any gaps in service provision and put in place appropriate solutions to address this. We would expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources. In 2009-10—the most recent year for which data are available—local authorities spent £70.9 million on housing related support for victims of domestic violence.

Drugs: Crime

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the street value of illegal drugs confiscated during police raids in (a) Berkshire, (b) Reading and (c) Reading West constituency in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The information requested on drug seizures is not collected centrally by the Home Office.
	Drug seizures are not recorded by street value due to the value of illegal drugs varying according to a number of factors including: purity, availability, demand and locality.
	Seizures are therefore usually recorded by weight and or units.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on support for individuals who have paid course fees and application fees to colleges subsequently disaccredited by the UK Border Agency.

Damian Green: Where the UK Border Agency revokes the license of a Tier 4 sponsor their students have 60 days to find another college that is willing to sponsor them or to leave the UK. The new sponsor must issue a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies and the student must apply for new leave to remain. We would expect colleges to have insurance in place in order to repay fees if necessary, and students should check the position before accepting an offer.
	Our reforms mean that in future only responsible colleges offering high quality education will be able to sponsor students to come to the UK.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many removals involving individuals granted entry clearance to the UK via the student visa route there have been in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The UK Border Agency standard reports record removals either on the basis of the immigration offence (i.e. illegal working, overstaying) or the removal category (i.e. enforced removal, voluntary departure). The entry clearance route under which the applicant originally entered the UK is not recorded within these removal reports.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received from colleges on proposed changes to the student visa system.

Damian Green: The Government are making radical changes to the immigration system. The old student visa regime was open to widespread abuse and failed to protect legitimate students from being exploited by poor quality colleges. The changes we are implementing will tighten up the system, tackle abuse and continue to attract the brightest and the best students from across the world. We have had a significant amount of correspondence from colleges, as they seek to understand and adapt to the new system.

Forensic Science Service

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's plans are for the archive of the Forensic Science Service.

Theresa May: holding answer 8 September 2011
	The Forensic Science Service archive will remain publicly-owned and historical data within the archive will continue to be available to the criminal justice system.

Forensic Science Service

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will provide a breakdown of the costs to date of closing down the Forensic Science Service.

Theresa May: holding answer 8 September 2011
	The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has been making significant financial losses and we are determined to make the managed closure as cost-effective to the taxpayer as possible. To date the Government have provided the FSS with £20 million of funding to maintain operational continuity during the transition as well as £8.7 million to cover staff redundancy payments.
	The final cost of the managed closure is not yet known.

Government Procurement Card

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) transaction date, (b) transaction amount and (c) supplier was of each transaction undertaken by the (i) UK Passport Agency and (ii) Parole Board using the Government Procurement Card in (A) 2008-09 and (B) 2009-10; and which of these transactions attracted level three or enhanced transaction entry.

Damian Green: holding answer 12 September 2011
	In the financial year 2008-09 the Identity and Passport Service (formerly the UK Passport Agency) total Government Procurement Card (GPC) expenditure was £711,586.15 and in 2009-10 it was £357,000. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of GPC transactions for the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10 without incurring disproportionate cost.
	A schedule of corporate charge card transactions for the Parole Board, an arm’s length body of the Ministry of Justice, will be placed in the House of Commons Library. There were no GPC transactions in 2008-09 and 2009-10 which were level three or required enhanced transaction entry.

Government Procurement Card

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the value of estimated tax receipts, calculated in accordance with the Green Book, in each public sector economic assessment of private finance initiative projects in procurement by her Department as of March 2011.

Damian Green: The Home Office, its Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) did not have any private finance initiative projects in procurement as of March 2011. Had it done so, the economic assessment of options would have been carried out in accordance with HM Treasury's Value for Money model which accompanies the Green Book.

Hillsborough Independent Panel

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Hillsborough Independent Panel has met since it was formed.

Nick Herbert: The Hillsborough Independent Panel's terms of reference indicate that it is expected to meet monthly. In accordance with its terms of reference it has now met 19 times since its first meeting in February 2010.

Hillsborough Independent Panel

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many documents the Hillsborough Independent Panel has reviewed.

Nick Herbert: The Hillsborough Independent Panel is accessing and researching hundreds of thousands of documents and other materials relating to the context, circumstances and aftermath of the disaster. It will publish a comprehensive, independent and analytical report and establish a public archive. I understand that it is the panel's intention to publish all documents simultaneously.

Immigration

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been in the UK without valid leave to remain for longer than 10 years.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency is not able to provide the information requested. It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of individuals currently in the UK without valid leave to remain, as some deliberately evade immigration control in order to remain in the country illegally.
	The e-Borders system enables checks to be made on individuals arriving or exiting the country at a majority of the points of entry to the UK but is not yet fully rolled out. The Government are committed to ensuring that the number of UK ports undertaking exit checks is increased to ensure a complete travel history record on all passengers.
	The UK Border Agency is currently in the process of establishing local immigration teams across the UK to gather intelligence, tackle illegal working, and track down and detain immigration offenders. The focus of these teams will include the prevention and disruption of illegal activity and the arrest and removal of offenders.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 9 August 2011 regarding the proposed reduction in the number of police in the West Midlands.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 8 September 2011
	I wrote to the hon. Gentleman on 22 August 2011.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer the letter sent to the Minister for Immigration by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 4 July 2011 with regard to Mrs S Rahman.

Damian Green: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 6 September 2011.

Newspaper Press: Telephone Tapping

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has had discussions with the Metropolitan police on allegations of telephone hacking of (a) public figures and (b) victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 14 July 2011
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), discussed the allegations of phone hacking generally with the Metropolitan Police.

North Yorkshire Police: Expenditure

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the North Yorkshire police authority has spent in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1996-97.

Nick Herbert: While the Government provide core police funding, spending decisions are made locally by the chief constables and police authorities. Data on expenditure are not collected centrally. However, this information is published annually by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

Nottinghamshire Police Authority

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours officers in Nottinghamshire police spent on front-line activities in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 7 September 2011
	The requested information is not collected centrally.

Parliament Square: Demonstrations

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to Metropolitan Police officers in respect of the policing of permanent demonstrations in Parliament Square; and what factors police officers take into account in determining whether to permit or deter any demonstration at the point at which they commence.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not issue any such guidance. Section 134 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 sets out the criteria that the Metropolitan police would use to manage protest in Parliament Square. The Government are bringing forward reforms in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill to ensure that Parliament Square can be enjoyed by all, and we have given a commitment to issue guidance to support effective enforcement of the new provisions.

Police

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the amount of police officer time spent on (a) administrative duties and (b) front line policing in each of the last five years; and what steps she plans to take to monitor the balance of such time in the future;
	(2)  what proportion of police officer time on average was spent on administration and internal organisation in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 18 July 2011
	According to the Front Line Policing Measure commissioned by the last government, police officers spent 21.7% of their time on paperwork and 13.8% on patrol in 2007-08, the last year for which figures were available.
	The Government are clear that the police should focus on police work not paperwork and the Home Office is now engaged in a comprehensive programme of action to deliver this commitment. That is why on 9 May 2011 I announced a new package of policies that will cut police bureaucracy, saving up to 2.5 million police hours per year.
	In moving away from central control to local accountability it will be for chief constables to monitor how they use their resources to cut crime.

Police

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which foreign countries have provided security training to police forces in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  which police forces purchased security training from outside the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 7 September 2011
	This information is not collected centrally.

Police

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Nottinghamshire on (a) 5 May 2010 and (b) the latest date for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 7 September 2011
	Police personnel data are not centrally collected for May 2010. Published statistics from the Home Office police personnel database show that as at 31 March 2010 there were 2,409 and as at 31 March 2011, there were 2,319 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in the Nottinghamshire police force area.
	The latest published police personnel statistics relate to 31 March 2011 and were published in July 2011. They are available online at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1311/hosb1311?view=Binary

Police

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) police civilian staff were employed by (i) West Midlands Police force and (ii) Warwickshire Police force in (A) May 2010 and (B) the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: The available information shows the number of (full-time equivalent) police officers, police community support officers and police civilian staff that were employed by West Midlands police force and Warwickshire police force as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011 and appears within the following table. Figures are collected on a financial year basis and the latest period for which figures are available are as at 31 March 2011.
	
		
			 Number of police officers, police community support officers and police civilian staff that were employed by   West Midlands   police force and Warwickshire police force, as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011  (1) 
			  West   M  idlands Warwickshire 
			  2010 2011 2010 2011 
			 Police Officers 8,626 8,149 973 919 
			 Police Community Support Officers 811 758 138 136 
		
	
	
		
			 Police Civilian Staff 3,667 3,184 765 720 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Source: Home Office using data received from police forces via the Annual Data Requirement

Police Custody: Death

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have died in police custody where the inquest verdict was (a) misadventure, (b) accidental death, (c) suicide, (d) manslaughter, (e) an open verdict, (f) unlawful killing and (g) natural causes since 1981; and in how many instances (i) no verdict was given and (ii) there was no inquest.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 8 September 2011
	The information requested is not held centrally or collated by the Home Office. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) compiles annual statistics on deaths or serious injuries during or following police contact, based on referrals from police forces. These statistics are published in its annual report. The most recent report can be found on the IPCC's website at:
	http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/deathscustodystudy.aspx

Police: Bureaucracy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 July 2011, Official Report, column 663W, on police: bureaucracy, when the Reducing Bureaucracy Programme Board commenced its work; how many police forms have been standardised to date; and how many such forms are in use in all police forces.

Nick Herbert: The Reducing Bureaucracy Programme Board, chaired by Chief Constable Chris Sims, commenced its work in October 2010. The board is currently looking at the crime recording process, challenging forces to simplify their own practice. However, it is for individual forces to determine which recommendations to take forward. The board is currently evaluating the uptake of a number of its recommendations at a local level. This will be completed in October 2011.

Police: Conditions of Employment

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what police policy is on paying for private medical treatment for their officers and staff; whether her Department's approval is required for such payments; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 5 September 2011
	It is for individual chief officers to decide whether to pay for private medical treatment for their officers. Home Office guidance says that this decision should be made on a case by case basis and should be justified by a strict cost benefit analysis. However, no approval is required from the Home Secretary.

Police: Incentives

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will ask the Winsor Review to consider ending the payment of annual bonuses to senior police officers.

Nick Herbert: Tom Winsor's Part 1 report recommended that the Chief Officer Bonus Scheme be suspended for two years. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), referred recommendations about police officers' pay and conditions to the police negotiating machinery and that process is ongoing.
	Tom Winsor's consultation for Part 2 of his review indicates that he will consider contribution-related pay further in his second report, on longer-term reforms.

Police: Manpower

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information she holds on the proportion of police budgets spent on (a) frontline police officers and (b) administrative staff in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 7 September 2011
	This information is not collected centrally.

Police: Manpower

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many police community support officers there were in (a) South Tyneside area command, (b) North Tyneside area command, (c) the North East and (d) England and Wales in each year since their introduction;
	(2)  how many police officers there were in (a) South Tyneside area command, (b) North Tyneside area command, (c) the north-east and (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Nick Herbert: Available information on police community support officers is given in tables 1 and 2 and for police officers in tables 2 and 3.
	The latest published police personnel statistics relate to 31 March 2011 and were published in July 2011. They are available online at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/police-research/hosb1311/hosb1311?view=Binary
	
		
			 Table 1: Police community support officer  (1)   strength  (2)   (FTE)  (3)  , South and North Tyneside basic command unit, 31 March 2007 to 31 March 2011 
			  31 March 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 South Tyneside 25 24 27 37 45 
			 North Tyneside 31 30 34 52 47 
			 (1) 2006-07 was the first year that police community support officer strength information by basic command unit was been collected centrally. (2) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (3) Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Police community support officer strength  (1)   (FTE)  (2)  , north-e  ast region and England and Wales, 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2011 
			  31 March 
			  2003 2004 2005  (3) 2006  (3) 2007  (3) 2008  (3) 2009  (3) 2010  (3) 2011  (3) 
			 North-east region(4) 47 155 270 296 504 585 628 806 785 
			 England and Wales 1,176 3,418 6,214 6,769 13,497 15,805 16,507 16,918 15,820 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table. (4) The north-east region includes Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police forces. Note: Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Police officer strength  (1)  , South and North Tyneside   basic command u  nit  (2)  , 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2011 
			  31 March 
			  2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 South Tyneside 291 303 346 352 362 341 357 326 319 
			 North Tyneside(3) (4)— (4)— 390 375 376 372 391 367 353 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2 )Information on basic command units was not collected centrally prior to 2002-03. (3) North Tyneside BCU was formed after 2003-04. Data prior to this period are not available centrally. (4 )Not available. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Police officer  (1)   strength less those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures)  (2)   north-e  ast region  (3 )  and England and Wales, 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2011 
			  31 March 
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
			 North East region(3) 6,597 6,767 6,823 6,749 6,859 7,004 7,177 7,413 
			 England and Wales 125,051 124,756 123,841 121,956 123,476 127,267 131,426 137,105 
		
	
	
		
			  31 March 
			  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 North East region(3) 7,442 7,365 7,313 7,196 7,350 7,290 7,052 
			 England and Wales 139,491 139,631 140,032 139,728 141,647 141,631 136,994 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short-term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison. (3) The north-east region includes Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police forces.

Police: Pay

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to ensure that police officers receive incremental pay increases comparable to employees in other public services; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: The Part 1 Report of the Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions recommended that police officers and all members of police staff below the top of their pay scale should be suspended at that increment for a two-year period commencing in September 2011.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), referred recommendations (including this one) about police officers' pay and conditions to the police negotiating machinery. She will consider the outcome of that process carefully before any decisions are made as to the implementation of the review's recommendations.

Prevent Funding

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she will be taking to review the balance between the three main areas of Prevent funding; and how she will communicate the outcomes of such reviews to Parliament.

James Brokenshire: The Prevent strategy identifies three main areas of funding: Policing and Domestic Prevent expenditure, both funded by the Home Office and Overseas Prevent expenditure, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). In 2011-12, the Home Office has allocated approximately £36 million for policing and domestic Prevent activity, and the FCO has allocated approximately £10 million for overseas activity. As delivery of the new Prevent strategy progresses, the balance of funding will be reviewed to ensure it remains proportionate to the threats we face, is targeted to deliver Prevent objectives, reaches people who are most vulnerable to radicalisation and provides value for money. We will publish an annual report on our counter-terrorism work, which will include delivery of the Prevent strategy.

Prisoners’ Release

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Serious and Organised Crime Agency altered the licence conditions of released prisoners in each year since 2006.

Nick Herbert: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) does not, and cannot, unilaterally alter the licence conditions of offenders released from prison as this is a matter for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). However, SOCA works within a partnership agreement with NOMS to create additional and bespoke licence conditions to prevent organised criminals from reoffending upon release, in compliance with the European convention on human rights.
	Under these arrangements, SOCA has, since 2006, requested the number of additional licence conditions set out as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2006 0 
			 2007 8 
			 2008 16 
			 2009 27 
			 2010 10 
			 2011 (1)6 
			 (1) Including one on temporary release.

Terrorism

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

Theresa May: The new Prevent strategy was published on 7 June 2011. It outlines three key objectives; responding to the ideological challenge of terrorism, supporting individuals at risk of radicalisation and working with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation.

Vetting

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many enhanced disclosures have been made by the Criminal Records Bureau in each year since 2007.

Lynne Featherstone: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has issued almost 17 million enhanced certificates since January 2007, broken down as follows:
	
		
			 Certificates issued 
			  Number 
			 2007 3,050,148 
			 2008 3,345,015 
			 2009 3,848,836 
			 2010 4,119,250 
			 2011 (as at 31 August) 2,613,597 
			 Total 16,976,846

Violent and Sex Offender Register

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rate per thousand population is of registrations on the Violent and Sex Offender Register in each English county.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 September 2011
	ViSOR (previously known as the violent and sex offenders register) is a UK-wide computer database system used to store and share information and intelligence on individuals posing a risk of serious harm, including but not limited to registered sex offenders.
	Data on the total number of registered sexual offenders per 100,000 head of population is published for each police force area within the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) annual report for that area.
	The reports for 2009-10 may be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/mappa-reports/index.htm
	The MAPPA area annual reports for 2010-11 will be published on 27 October 2011.

West Midlands Police Authority: Warwickshire Police Authority

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget out-turn was of the (a) West Midlands police authority and (b) Warwickshire police authority in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year since 2005-06.

Nick Herbert: Information about the budget out-turn of Warwickshire and West Midlands police authorities is not collected centrally. However, these data are available on the respective police authorities’ websites.

TREASURY

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made against the Government's timetable for compensation payments to Equitable Life policyholders.

Mark Hoban: Payments began on the 30 June. Hundreds of payments have been made to date and volumes will continue to be ramped up over the coming months as the scheme's complex payment processes are refined further.
	Payments will continue in accordance with the profile set out at the spending review settlement—with £1 billion allocated to the scheme in the first three years of this spending review—and the Independent Commission on Equitable Life Payments' recommendations on the prioritisation of payments.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Equitable Life with-profits annuitants have been paid compensation to date.

Mark Hoban: Payments began on 30 June, and hundreds of payments have been made to date. Payment volumes will continue to be ramped up over the coming months as the schemes complex payment processes are refined further.
	Payments are being made in accordance with the payments criteria set out in the scheme rules available at:
	http://www.equitablelifepaymentscheme.independent.gov.uk/docs/pdfs/elps_main_doc_final.pdf

DEFENCE

Air Force

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Order of Battle is of the Royal Air Force.

Nick Harvey: Order of Battle is not a term commonly applied by the Royal Air Force. The information in the following table is a current indication of the size and shape of the RAF:
	
		
			 Number of squadrons Aircraft/Activity Main RAF group responsible 
			 6 Tornado GR4 1 
			 5 Typhoon 1 
			 1 Sentinel/Shadow 2 
			 1 Sentry 2 
			 3 Search and Rescue Sea King 2 
			 3 C 130 Hercules 2 
			 I Command Support Air Transport Fleet 2 
			 1 Reaper 2 
			 1 C-17 Globemaster 2 
			 3 Hawk 22 and 1 
			 1 VC-10 2 
			 1 Tristar 2 
			 3 Tutor 22 
			 1 King Air 22 
			 2 Sentry/Sentinel 2 
			 2 Griffin 22 and 2 
			 1 Tucano 22 
			 1 Fast Jet and Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit (OEU) 2 
			 1 No Aircraft—AWC HQ trials and tactics, office based air exercise planning unit 2 
			 1 Integrated Test and Evaluation Squadron 2 
			 3 Chinook (1)— 
			 2 Merlin (1)— 
			 2 Puma (1)— 
			 (1) Joint Helicopter Command

Air Force: Recruitment

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost is of his Department's television advertising campaign for Royal Air Force recruitment.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 9 September 2011
	The cost of the recent television advertising campaign for Royal Air Force recruitment was £1.6 million. This is broadly comparable with the previous financial year, but reflects a saving of 47% on financial year 2008-09.

Aircraft Carriers: Equipment

Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost of fitting cats and traps to (a) one and (b) both Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers; whether he plans to fit cats and traps to (i) HMS Queen Elizabeth and (ii) HMS Prince of Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Luff: holding answer 12 September 2011
	The Strategic Defence and Security Review called for one Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraft carrier to be converted to operate the more capable and cost-effective carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The National Audit Office's report on Carrier Strike, published on 7 July 2011, estimated the cost of converting a single carrier at £800 million to £1.2 billion, a reasonable estimate based on the maturity of information currently available. We are developing more detailed cost estimates as part of our ongoing work.
	A revised design is being developed to consider the cost differences between a post-build refit of the first in class, HMS Queen Elizabeth and an in-build conversion of the second, HMS Prince of Wales. On current plans, we expect to take firm decisions on the optimum conversion solution for the operational carrier in late 2012.

Armed Forces

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average length of time taken is between the start of phase one training and deployable capability for an infantry soldier aged (a) 18 or over and (b) 16; and what the average cost for this period is in respect of (i) training, (ii) salary and (iii) other costs.

Nick Harvey: All infantry recruits undertake Phase 1 and Phase 2 training, to provide them with the basic infantry skills required to enter the Field Army. To reach the level required to deploy on operations, further mission specific training takes place prior to deployment.
	The average length of time taken to complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 training for Standard Entry (SE) Infantry soldiers (those who are aged 17.5 years or over on enlistment) is between 28 to 30 weeks.
	The average length of time taken to complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 training for Junior Entry (JE) Infantry soldiers (those aged between 16 and 17.5 years of age) is between 64 and 74 weeks.
	The following table shows the average cost of Phase 1 and Phase 2 training and the average salary paid to SE and JE soldiers for the period of training. All other costs are included in the average training cost.
	
		
			 Per trainee 
			  Average training cost Average salary cost  (1) 
			 Junior Entry £50,000 to £65,000 £25,000 to £29,000 
			 Standard Entry £21,000 to £40,000 £11,000 to £12,000 
			 (1) Salary costs based on the 2010-11 capitation rate for a recruit. Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 based on costs for financial year 2010-11.

Armed Forces: Discharges

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel were discharged on the basis of services no longer required in the last five years.

Andrew Robathan: The number of Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and Royal Air Force personnel who were discharged in the last five years on the basis that their service was no longer required is provided in the following tables. Data for Army personnel are not held in the format requested.
	
		
			  Number 
			 Naval Service  
			 2006-07 50 
			 2007-08 20 
			 2008-09 0 
			 2009-10 0 
			 2010-11 0 
			   
			 RAF  
			 2006-07 50 
		
	
	
		
			 2007-08 20 
			 2008-09 10 
			 2009-10 20 
			 2010-11 60 
			 Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Armed Forces: Training

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (a) started and (b) completed an apprenticeship or equivalent vocational training leading to recognised professional qualifications in (i) mechanics, (ii) plumbing, (iii) catering, (iv) electronics, (v) carpentry and (vi) construction in each of the last five years.

Andrew Robathan: The Army Foundation College Harrogate (AFC(H)) is a non-academic college and students undertake a vocational apprenticeship, designed to enable young recruits to prepare for military training and life. This includes the opportunity to work on key skills such as communication, application of numbers, working with others and problem-solving. Students have the opportunity to attain qualifications in numeracy, literacy and information technology.
	Consequently no recruits at the AFC(H) have completed an apprenticeship or equivalent vocational training leading to recognised professional qualifications in mechanics, plumbing, catering, electronics, carpentry and construction. Nor is training in any of these specified categories delivered in the AFC(H) syllabus. However, during the course, recruits receive a range of educational development including: qualifications in numeracy and English; Level 2 Diploma for IT Users. They also have the opportunity to complete the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) and advanced ECDL; a critical thinking package, bolstered by three weeks of personnel and team development training, the aim of which is develop the recruits' ability to analyse and solve problems.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status is of the Warrior IFV turret upgrade; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Luff: The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), announced plans to upgrade the Army's Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle in his statement to the House on Defence Transformation on 18 July 2011, Official Report, columns 643-45. The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme plans to deliver enhancements in lethality, survivability, growth potential, and safe operation. The turret upgrade, incorporating a 40 mm cannon, is one of these elements. The programme has reached its main investment decision point and a further announcement is expected later in the autumn.

Ben Parkinson

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the personal injury compensation paid to Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson in respect of the injuries sustained while on active service.

Andrew Robathan: We do not comment on the payment made to individual service personnel. However, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) was reviewed by Admiral the Lord Boyce in 2010. He re-examined the increases made to the tariff levels in 2008 and concluded that the top level lump sum of £570,000 remained appropriate.
	Having a maximum lump sum payable recognises that when considering individuals who are very profoundly injured, there comes a point where distinguishing between level of injury becomes impossible and the only equitable way to assess the amount payable is to treat individuals in this category in the same way.
	The guaranteed income payment element of an AFCS award, which is paid upon discharge to those who sustain serious illness or injury, can be the most financially beneficial part of the compensation package. This tax free, index linked, monthly income stream is paid from the point of service discharge for life, to recognise the effect of the injury on the future employment prospects of an individual and can be worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Departmental Assets

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) monetary value of his Department's assets that cannot be located.

Peter Luff: The Comptroller and Auditor General's (C&AG)'s report on the Ministry of Defence's 2010-11 Annual Report and Accounts, which has been accepted by the MOD, identified that the Department was unable to provide sufficient information to support the accounting for certain inventory and capital spares, including Bowman radios, totalling £5.3 billion.
	The difficulties in reconciling inventory system records with the accounting systems does not mean that we have lost any of these items. Nevertheless, given that equipment frequently moves between military units on operations or between units and the repair loop the MOD is committed to doing more to improve the underlying tracking processes and systems.
	On the issue of Bowman radios, the Bowman Asset Management Improvement Plan; which is addressing specific concerns raised by the NAO over the recording of additions and disposal, and delivery of replacements for legacy inventory systems will continue to deliver improvements in the quality of the accounting information.
	On asset and stock management the Chief of Defence Materiel, as logistics process owner, has established the Materiel and Financial Accounting Programme Board to review processes for all areas of asset management and accounting. The Board is overseeing a number of key areas of work including:
	The replacement of legacy inventory systems to improve the logistics capability in support of the front line and to address the issues raised by NAO.
	A four year plan; to be completed in 2013, to improve stocktaking and ensure balances are correctly recorded on the systems.
	Improvements in skills and competencies training, which is being introduced from 2011.
	An action plan to dispose of obsolete stock which commenced in 2010-11.
	C&AG has acknowledged that some progress has already been made in the way that the MOD controls inventory and capital spares and welcomed the way in which the MOD has responded to previous recommendations. However, C&AG also recognises that the MOD is only two years into a longer term programme to resolve the underlying issues and that benefits arising from approved new systems will only start to have an impact in 2014.
	A copy of the Ministry of Defence's 2010-11 Annual Report and Accounts is available in the Library of the House or via the following link:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/MODAnnualReports1011/

Departmental Manpower

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the staff level was of (a) Royal Navy personnel, (b) Ministry of Defence (MOD) police, (c) MOD civil servants and (d) non-MOD personnel employed at MOD Caledonia as at 18 July 2011.

Andrew Robathan: The number of staff that were employed at Ministry of Defence Caledonia as at 18 July 2011 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Royal Navy 90 
			 MOD police 35 
			 MOD civil servants 68 
			 Non-MOD personnel 108

Departmental Taxis

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on taxis for (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers since May 2010.

Liam Fox: holding answer 14 June 2011
	Information held on Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure on taxis is as follows.
	The Defence Ministers spent £163 on taxi fares between May 2010 and the end of June 2011. Defence Ministers make very few journeys by taxi as they use the MOD car pool for most road travel.
	Taxi fares reimbursed to officials are not recorded separately from bus and underground fares and parking and road tolls.
	The MOD's three special advisers spent £994 on taxi fares between May 2010 and the end of June 2011.
	MOD staff may only use a taxi for official duty when there is a business benefit to the MOD or when it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available or where heavy baggage or equipment has to be carried.

Departmental Written Questions

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of written questions tabled to him for answer on a named day did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer between (a) 27 May 2010 and 19 July 2011 and (b) 9 March 2011 and 19 July 2011.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) received 1,141 questions for written answer on a named day between 27 May 2010 and July 2011, of which 510 (45%) did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer. For the period 9 March 2011 to 19 July 2011, the MOD received 361 questions for written answer on a named day, of which 188 (52%) did not receive a substantive answer on the day named for answer.
	The Government are committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide full information to the Committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to Government Departments' performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.

Gurkhas

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Order of Battle is of the Brigade of Gurkhas.

Nick Harvey: The Order of Battle for the Brigade of Gurkhas is as follows:
	
		
			 Unit Location 
			 HQ Brigade of Gurkhas Upavon 
			 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles Shorncliffe 
			 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles Brunei 
			   
			 Queen's Gurkha Signals:  
			 246 Gurkha Signal Squadron York 
			 248 Gurkha Signal Squadron Stafford 
			 250 Gurkha Signal Squadron Bramcote 
			   
			 Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas Shorncliffe 
			   
			 Queens Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment:  
			 28 Squadron Aldershot 
			 94 Squadron Hullavington 
			 1 Squadron Aldershot 
			   
			 Queen's Gurkha Engineers:  
			 69 Squadron Maidstone 
			 70 Squadron Maidstone 
			   
			 Gurkha Companies:  
			 Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Sandhurst 
			 Infantry Battle School Brecon 
			 Infantry Training Centre Catterick 
			 Infantry Training Centre Language Wing Catterick 
			 Staff and Personnel Support Glasgow 
			 Gurkha Reinforcement Company Munster, Germany

HMS Endurance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what work was carried out on HMS Endurance before it was taken over by the Navy; and whether any work was subsequently undertaken by his Department that had not been anticipated.

Peter Luff: After HMS Polar Circle was leased by the Ministry of Defence in November 1991 and prior to the ship's first deployment, modifications were made to the Ship's aviation, communications and hydrographic systems utilising equipment from the previous HMS Endurance where feasible. This included putting non-slip surfaces on the Ship's hangar deck, improved flight aids, improved aviation fuelling systems, encrypted satellite communication and a new echo sounder.
	In January 1992, the decision was made to purchase HMS Polar Circle and the ship was renamed as HMS Endurance in October 1992. At this stage, a further series of planned modifications were made to the vessel, including enlarging its hangar and the fitting of additional communication and hydrographic equipment. Until its flooding in 2008, all other maintenance or refit work conducted on HMS Endurance had been anticipated and was conducted as part of the ship's routine programme.

Libya: Armed Conflict

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any UK ground forces have been deployed in Libya; and what plans he has for such future deployment.

Liam Fox: The UK has a small military mentoring team in Libya supporting the National Transitional Council.

Libya: Armed Conflict

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will order a lessons learned paper on NATO operations in Libya.

Liam Fox: The Ministry of Defence routinely conducts lessons learned exercises after the conclusion of a military operation.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Search and Rescue missions the E-3D Sentry aircraft has flown in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the duration was of each such mission.

Nick Harvey: The E-3D has flown one search and rescue mission during the period 1 January 2011 to 6 September 2011. The total flight time was three hours 37 minutes.

Military Bases

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the measures which will be required to adapt roads around Kirknewton to allow heavy weaponry, including transporters carrying tanks, to reach the proposed new army base; and what estimate his Department has made of the likely cost of such work;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to provide access to a training ground for tanks based at the proposed new army base at Kirknewton; and what assessment he has made of the likely costs to be incurred in such provision;
	(3)  what new facilities will be required to accommodate personnel who are moved to Glencorse Barracks upon the closure of Redford and Dreghorn barracks; and what assessment he has made of the likely costs of such facilities;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the cost of modernising the barracks at (a) Redford, (b) Dreghorn and (c) Craigiehall.

Nick Harvey: Comprehensive planning work is now under way to draw up plans for the timing and sequencing of the Army moves.
	This detailed planning work will involve the appropriate and necessary engagement with partners such as the Scottish Government, West Lothian Council and Other Government Departments and agencies, including the appropriate level of consultation which will be required as we work through all options. It is therefore too early to confirm further details on the exact requirements and their costs.

Navy

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel are required to meet Merchant Navy and Royal Navy fire fighting standards; and whether he has considered the merits of rationalising such requirements.

Nick Harvey: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) set statutory requirements for firefighting standards for those employed in the merchant navy. In addition to the mandatory training provided at the merchant navy training establishment the operational role of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is such that enhanced training is provided by the Royal Navy firefighting training facility, in order to deal with the situations they may encounter whilst deploying with our armed forces.
	As part of the process of improving the training of its personnel, the RFA has begun the process of seeking MCA accreditation for the advanced naval firefighting course so that RFA personnel would be able to conduct their firefighting training at the Royal Navy facilities.

Royal Armoured Corps

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the future Force Structure of the Royal Armoured Corps is to be.

Nick Harvey: Following on from the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox)’s announcement to the House on 18 July 2011, Official Report, columns 643-645W, the chief of the general staff has directed that a study be undertaken, known as Army 2020, to look at the future design of the Army.
	The future force structure of the Royal Armoured Corps, both regular and reserve, will be considered as part of this.
	It is anticipated that the study will conclude in summer 2012 and, until then, it is too early to say what the future force structure of the Royal Armoured Corps will be.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had on steps to increase the profile of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Nick Harvey: I and my colleagues fully recognise that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) continues to be widely acknowledged as being among the leading naval logistic support organisations in the world, integral to the Royal Navy's deployments and global presence and an important element of the wider naval service. The RFA continues to operate in the Gulf, in both the North and South Atlantic, as well as in UK waters in vital support of the UK national interests. In addition they continue to play a role in support of disaster relief operations, such as in February 2010 when RFA LARGS BAY was deployed to Haiti, delivering vital relief supplies and providing specialist capabilities to assist with the wider United Nations-led relief effort.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2011, Official Report, column 52W, on unmanned air vehicles, what the strict procedures are which are intended to (a) minimise the risk of casualties occurring from the use of armed drones and (b) investigate incidents that do happen.

Nick Harvey: Reaper is the UK's only armed remotely piloted air system. It is not an autonomous system and does not have the capability to employ weapons unless it is commanded to do so by the flight crew.
	The flight crew, along with all other UK personnel, are trained in and operate under the Law of Armed Conflict and strict Rules of Engagement which are designed to minimise the risk to civilians. I am withholding further information about our Rules of Engagement as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.
	In addition, we carefully select the type of weapon in every engagement to ensure the most appropriate munition is used to deliver the required effect, in a proportional manner, so minimising the risk to civilians and their property.
	Where suspected civilian casualty incidents involving UK forces occur, they will be promptly reported to the chain of command who will conduct an initial investigation. If the circumstances of the incident merit it, a separate investigation will be conducted by ISAF. If necessary, the UK chain of command will report the incident to the service police for further national investigation. Service police can also independently launch an investigation in certain circumstances.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions: Manufacturing Industries

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider the merits of introducing incentives for manufacturers to adopt environmentally-friendly practices which are rationed against the carbon footprint of a factory as well as the carbon footprint of the product.

Gregory Barker: There is currently a wide range of incentives and regulations in place to encourage UK manufacturers to be more energy and carbon efficient. These include the EU Emissions Trading System, which is a market-based approach based on the emissions associated with historical production, Climate Change Agreements, which offer reduced levels of tax in return for meeting energy efficiency targets related to product output, and the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, which uses a range of measures to drive behaviour change including robust reporting, a competitive league table and attaching a price to the carbon that businesses emit. In addition the Green Deal will enable businesses to carry out energy efficiency improvements to their buildings at no upfront cost, through a framework established by Government. This innovative financing mechanism will allow businesses to repay costs through a charge in instalments on their energy bill.
	I am always open to consider innovative policy ideas, but new measures would need to fit with our existing policy framework and demonstrate added benefit to both manufacturing and our climate and energy objectives.

Carbon Trust

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department and its predecessor paid to the Carbon Trust in each of the last five years; and for what purpose.

Gregory Barker: The Carbon Trust has received the following DECC and DEFRA funding in the last five years:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2006-07 78,600,000 
			 2007-08 90,700,000 
			 2008-09 89,063,000 
			 2009-10 216,465,000 
			 2010-11 127,880,000 
		
	
	Funding has been granted to support carbon abatement in the business and public sectors and to support elements of the trust's work to develop low carbon technologies. In 2009-10 and 2010-11 the higher level of funding reflects the introduction of interest free energy efficiency loans for SMEs and the public sector plus Marine Renewables Proving, Offshore Wind Accelerator and Venture Capital investment.

Carbon Trust

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what payments his Department plans to make to the Carbon Trust in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.

Gregory Barker: The Carbon Trust is expecting to receive a grant of up to £39.1 million from DECC by the end of the financial year 2011-12.
	The DECC Delivery Review, published in May 2011, announced that the Carbon Trust is to receive no further core grant funding beyond the end of this financial year. Ongoing DECC programme planning work will determine whether the Carbon Trust is funded to deliver specific projects in 2012-13.

Carbon Trust

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the title is of each item of research commissioned from the Carbon Trust by his Department.

Gregory Barker: In 2011-12, DECC has grant-funded the Carbon Trust (CT) to deliver outcomes through an agreed business plan. We do not commission specific pieces of research from CT. CT may however choose, themselves, to conduct small pieces of research to inform their activities.

Energy: Prices

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on domestic fuel bills of National Grid's request for an increase in allowed revenue.

Charles Hendry: DECC's assessment of the overall impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills was published alongside the Annual Energy Statement in July 2010:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/ec_social_res/analytic_projs/price_bill_imp/price_bill_imp.aspx
	Although, the analysis included assumptions on increased network costs into the future and increased costs for the necessary grid reinforcement associated with meeting our renewables target, it did not explicitly refer to any request for an increase in allowed revenue from the National Grid.
	An updated assessment of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills will be published alongside the Annual Energy Statement in the autumn reflecting policy developments over the last year. Assumptions on network costs will include agreed increases in allowed revenue set out in the latest distribution price control settlements.
	There are currently two price control arrangements going on at the moment:
	An extension to the current arrangements (the ‘roll-over’) which lasts until 2013; and
	The RIIO (Revenue = Incentives + Innovation + Outputs) controls, which for gas and electricity transmission and gas distribution run from 2013 to 2021.
	The Ofgem website sets out the proposals for allowed revenue in the ‘roll-over’ year and estimates the initial proposals would increase the average residential gas and electricity bills by approximately £2 (0.3%) and £1 (0.4%) respectively:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=63&refer=Networks/Trans/PriceControls/TPCR4Roll-over
	The RIIO controls are currently been worked on, with Ofgem's final proposals to be set around the end of 2012. National Grid has recently submitted its transmission business plan proposals, which are being assessed. National Grid's estimates of the consumer impact of these proposals are included on its website.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with energy companies on the development of billing systems to administer Green Deal payments and savings.

Charles Hendry: DECC officials meet regularly with energy companies and their trade associations to discuss all aspects of the Green Deal including the collection of the Green Deal charge. These discussions have included non-domestic and smaller energy suppliers. Discussions have explored the impacts associated with all options for collecting the Green Deal charge via energy bills, including costs and technical issues arising from ensuring an efficient and secure system for collecting payments from Green Deal customers and remitting these to Green Deal providers.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings he has had with energy companies on providing information to consumers on the levels of savings available from Green Deal packages for gas and electricity.

Gregory Barker: DECC officials meet regularly with energy companies and their trade associations to discuss all aspects of the Green Deal. These discussions have included non-domestic and smaller energy suppliers. The larger energy suppliers have voluntarily agreed to provide factual and neutral information on the Green Deal to their customers at key trigger points, for example when they change supplier or move into a new property. This will increase the likelihood that consumers will explore the option of installing energy efficiency measures via the Green Deal when they are making other improvements to their homes and businesses. Energy suppliers will be required to reproduce the estimated energy savings, as printed on the customer's Green Deal assessment, on the annual energy statement.

Nuclear Power Stations

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of levy exemption certificates on the economic viability of combined heat and power plants.

Gregory Barker: Following the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne)’s Budget announcement, the Government continue to work with the Combined Heat and Power Association and its members, including representatives from the oil refining industry, in order to develop a simpler, direct and more effective means of support for combined heat and power stations. From 2013, the new relief from the carbon price floor will supersede the existing relief provided through levy exemption certificates, with the intention that CHP plants will continue to receive an appropriate level of support.

Nuclear Safety

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Cheltenham of 5 September 2011, Official Report, column 203, on nuclear safety, if he will place in the Library and publish on his departmental website (a) the (i) progress and (ii) final reports of the nuclear plant operators on the conduct of stress tests and (b) the (i) progress and (ii) final findings reports of the national regulator to which reference is made in the answer.

Charles Hendry: The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) will make available on its website the progress and final reports of the UK nuclear operators under the EU nuclear stress testing initiative. ONR's assessments of those reports for the European Commission will also be published. Copies of all these documents will also be placed in the Library of the House. Where necessary, information will be withheld in line with the exemptions as set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
	Her Majesty's Chief Nuclear Inspector, Dr Mike Weightman, will take account of the UK stress tests in his final report to the Secretary of State on the implications for the UK nuclear industry from the Fukushima nuclear incident. His report will be published and a copy placed in the Library of the House.

Renewables Obligation

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  when he expects to announce the new banding proposals for the renewables obligation from 2013;
	(2)  what the timetable is for the renewables obligation banding review.

Charles Hendry: We intend to launch a public consultation shortly on proposals for banded support under the renewables obligation for the period 2013-17. The Government will issue a formal response and lay draft legislation before Parliament as soon as possible after the consultation ends. Subject to parliamentary and state aids approval, the new bands will come into effect on 1 April 2013 as planned (1 April 2014 for offshore wind).

Wind Power: Finance

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what subsidy was received by onshore wind farms for each gigawatt of electricity produced in the last year for which figures are available.

Charles Hendry: Onshore wind farms receive a subsidy of one renewable energy certificate (ROC) per MWh of electricity generated.
	According to the figures published in Ofgem's most recent RO annual report:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environment/RenewablObl/Documents1/RO%20Annual%20Report%202009-10.pdf
	the subsidy awarded to onshore wind power under the RO in 2009-10 was approximately £380 million. This figure uses the nominal value (equal to the buyout price + recycle value) of a renewable obligation certificate (ROC) for 2009-10. The nominal value represents the maximum worth of a ROC to a generator but is not necessarily the amount paid by a supplier, which is dependent on bilateral negotiations between supplier and generator
	Ofgem will publish their next annual report, including the number of ROCs received by generation in 2010-11, by 1 April 2012.

Windpower

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the total generating capacity from (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013, (iii) 2014 and (iv) 2015.

Charles Hendry: The UK Renewable Energy Roadmap published in July 2011 set out central ranges for deployment of renewable technologies to 2020. The following table shows the central ranges for onshore and offshore wind between 2012 and 2015:
	
		
			 Total generating capacity 
			 GW 
			  Onshore wind Offshore wind 
			 2012 5.6-6.2 2.4-3.3 
			 2013 6.4-7.3 3.4-4.4 
			 2014 6.9-8.3 4.0-5.2 
			 2015 7.6-9.3 4.1-5.9 
		
	
	The actual amount of future wind capacity will depend on many factors including investment and planning decisions.